The Tenmas
by Astro.PNG
Summary: It's a brand new year, everything seems to be going well. But with troubles, struggles, and new editions, can blood really define who's family? (RATED T FOR SWEARING AND MINOR SEXUAL REFERENCES I think idk lol maybe not, you never know...) [NINTH INSTALLMENT IN THE VIVID INSOMNIA ASTRO BOY FAN FIC SERIES]
1. Don't Shed a Tear

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga

Chapter One: Don't Shed a Tear

Astro was seated in a chair looking at a sheet of paper as he let his fingers move around the keys. New Years was approaching quickly, but it didn't seem to be enough to get him excited or care as much as we'd assume.

Astro played a few more keys and stopped for a moment to look around at his surroundings. He then went back to looking at the same sheet of paper, and moving his hands around the keys and starting to make what he thought was a decent song, one of his favorites, and he was recreating it right there.

On Tenma's piano.

_We'll carry on,_

_We'll carry on_

_And though you're dead and gone believe me_

_Your memory will carry on_

_We'll carry on_

_And in my heart I can't contain it_

_The anthem won't explain it._

Astro couldn't help but shed a few tears, even though he loved the song, it always sometimes made him reflect on life and the pain it came with.

"Astro, you down here?"

Astro stopped playing and turned around.

"Yeah."

"Just wanted to know where you were."

Astro smiled.

"so what are you up to?"

Astro sighed.

"Nothing."

"I-I just don't think i'm ready to face another new year."

"Why is that?" Tenma walked up to him.

"Well, I just don't know if i'll make it, I don't even know how I survived _this_ year, and now I have to survive another year, It just seems too overwhelming."

"Don't be so pessimistic. You're going to be fine."

"Y-you really think so?"

"Yeah."

"Well I guess if you say so, then i'll try my best" Astro smiled again.

Tenma smiled at him and ruffled his hair.

Astro slowly turned around to face the piano again.

"You know, you're really good at that."

"Oh! you must've heard me playing?"

"Yes I did. How about you play some more?"

"Uh.. sure, I guess." Astro shrugged.

Astro looked back at the sheet music and began to play again.

_A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams_

_Your misery and hate will kill us all._

_So paint it black and take it back_

_Let's shout it loud and clear_

_Defiant to the end we hear the call_

Astro shed a few more tears as he kept going and playing the song.

He soon came to a sudden halt and stopped playing.

"I-I can't, I just can't." Astro's voice cracked.

"What's wrong?" Tenma put his hand on his back as he knelt beside the chair Astro was sitting in.

"Nothing, it's just a sad song, even though it doesn't _always_ make me sad, it's just sometimes."

"I know what you mean." 

Astro let out a sigh. 

"How about something a little happier?"

Tenma put one hand on the keys nearest to him and began to play a quick easy song.

Astro soon jumped in and played along with Tenma. ((Aww this is, i-i can't, this is adorable! ~Emily))

He couldn't help but sing along and giggle as they played faster.

"Woah, I've never actually played that much." Astro sounded astonished. 

"You'd be surprised at what you can do if you put your mind to it." Tenma smiled at him.

"Yeah, but music isn't really my _thing_, but I can see what you mean." Astro smiled back. 

"Ah. I just remembered I had to do something! I'll talk to you later." Tenma rushed away and ran quickly up the stairs.

"Haha, well you go do that while I cry my eyes out, listening to _The Black Parade_." Astro chuckled. 

Later on at night, Astro was sitting at his desk, resting his arm on it to support his head. He yawned.

There was a knock at the door.

"C-come in!"

Tenma opened the door.

Astro turned around.

"O-oh, i-it's you." Astro yawned again.

"It's time for bed."

"I know, but I can't seem to fall asleep anymore…"

"Well you sound awfully tired, I don't see how that can be a problem."

"I know, but whenever I try to fall asleep, nothing happens."

"Maybe you aren't trying hard enough."

"What do you mean? I try hard enough." 

"Goodnight Astro." Tenma closed the door.

"But wait, how's trying harder suppose to hel-"

Astro folded his arms.

"At least I know who _not _to ask when I need help regarding my sleeping cycle."

Astro got up from the chair and walked over to his bed. He then crawled under the covers and tried his hardest to go to bed.

"Pfft, try harder." Astro complained as he stared at the ceiling. 

He tossed and turned and closed his eyes.

"Maybe if I tire myself out even more."

Astro got out of bed and walked over to his closet.

"i'll just write in my journal." Astro smiled as he took the journal out of his closet.

Astro walked with the journal back to his bed and crawled back under the covers with it.

He scribbled and wrote a few things in it.

"Nope."

"Ugh!" Astro rubbed his eye.

"Why can't I go to sleep!"

"Maybe if I_ didn't_ try..."

Astro set the journal and pencil aside and curled up into an adorable little ball and stared at the wall. 

He waited a few minutes and eventually fell asleep. 

A few hours later, Astro woke up. He rubbed his eye and slowly got out of bed and carrying a pillow with him.

He slowly walked out of his room and into the hallway.

He slowly walked up to Tenma and Cindy's room and lightly knocked on the door.

No one responded.

Astro slowly opened the door.

"Astro?" Tenma looked at him.

"What are you doing up?" 

"I-I had a bad dream, and I was wondering if I could just sleep with you guys…"

"Aren't you a little too old for this?"

Astro sniffled.

Tenma sighed.

"Fine..."

Astro smiled and walked over to Tenma's bed.

He moved over and Astro climbed in between him and Cindy.

The next morning, Astro woke up in the afternoon.

"Ah, I missed breakfast?" Astro wondered aloud as he rubbed his eye.

He slowly got out of bed and carried his pillow with him out of the room, into the hallway, and to his room where he placed the pillow back on his bed.

Astro left his room again and went into the hallway and into the kitchen to grab a miniature apple juice box, he then left the kitchen and sat down on the couch in the living room.

"Man, I can't believe I actually missed breakfast!" Astro blurted out.

"I wonder why?"

"Maybe I was making up for all those hours I lost since Christmas."

"Or maybe I was having a nightmare and didn't realize it."

"Or, what if this is all a dream and I wake up being the crazy me again."

Astro sighed.

"Or-Or maybe-"

Astro shut his eyes tightly for a moment and tried to hold back his tears.

He didn't notice anyone else sitting on the living room couch with him.

Astro sniffled and grabbed onto the couch as tight as he could.

He gasped and quickly opened his eyes when he felt something touch him.

"You okay there, Astro?"

Astro slowly turned around and looked at them with a sad face.

"Wait… KAITLYN?! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" He flinched and jerked over to the other side of the couch.

"Why am I _NOT_ here?... Hold on wait…. Did that even make sense?" She responded.

"WTF?"

"What? No proper greeting? No 'Hello' at least?"

Astro got up from the couch and walked away.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Kaitlyn jumped up and rushed after him.

Astro walked into his room and forcefully closed the door behind him.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!"

She sighed and sat down on the ground in front of the door, leaning her head back against it..

"At least I'm getting paid for this….."

Astro sat down on his bed, his hands began to shake a little.

After a while, Kaitlyn came back to the door with a small juice carton in her hand.

"You still in there?" She knocked lightly.

Astro was sitting alone in the corner of his bedroom, holding his knees up to his chest and trying to relax and calm himself down.

She leaned her forehead on the door.

"You know… about what you said earlier….."

Astro didn't respond.

"Well, you're fine. There's nothing to worry about. This isn't some kind of crazy dream."

He ignored her and sighed.

"If you're scared about going back, I just want you to know that I'll never let that happen to you as long as I'm alive."

Astro still couldn't respond, his hands began to shake again.

"If you snuck out and I'm talking to myself, I'm going to beat your ass so bad, you won't have an ass no more." Kaitlyn moved her head so she could try and listen through the door.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Astro slowly tried to get up, but he collapsed, leaving him to just stagger on his way to the door.

"Oh. I think I hear him. Good." She whispered to herself.

Astro tried to reach the doorknob but everything got blurry and Astro fell helplessly to the ground and knocked out completely.

"You fell, didn't you….?"

She slowly opened the door.

Astro was on the ground at her feet.

"You and the drama…. I swear." She leaned down and poked him, hoping he would wake up.

Astro remained lifeless and didn't do anything.

"You suck…." Kaitlyn kicked him a little.

He still didn't do anything.

She sighed and lifted him up then carried him over to the bed.

She placed him down and pulled a blanket over him.

Astro still seemed lifeless.

"If you're dead, your parents will kill me….." She sat next to the bed.

"If I punch him hard enough will he wake up?" She thought.

"Nah. I tried that once before and if it didn't work then, why would it work now?"

"I also refuse to think it's one of those 'Sleeping Beauty' kinda things. Just nope. Nope nope nope."

Astro's hands continued to shake as he was out cold after fainting.

Kaitlyn looked up at him.

"He can't be that afraid…. can he?"

His hands still shook.

The sound of a door opening could be heard in the distant.

"KAITLYN? ASTRO? WE'RE BACK!" A voice called out.

"Wah?" Kaitlyn woke up after dozing off.

"He's still here…." She sighed looking over at Astro who was still on the bed.

"KAITLYN? ASTRO?" they called out again.

"Hmm?" She looked up.

"OH SHOOT THEY'RE BACK!"

"WE'RE BACK!"

"Maybe they're in Astro's room?"

"Maybe."

Astro continued to still lay lifeless as his hands shook quite a lot.

"Wah! What do I do? What do I say? What if he actually is dead?!" Kaitlyn began to panic. 

Tenma and cindy made their way into the hallway.

"AH! SHHHHHIII- ASTRO! WAKE UP!" Kaitlyn got up and began slapping Astro.

"Come on! You idiot!" She shook him by his shoulders.

Astro did nothing in response.

There was a knock at the door. 

Kaitlyn stared blankly at it.

"Kaitlyn? Astro? You there?"

"M-maybe!…. Dammit why did I say that…."

"Can we come in?"

"No?"

"Hmm, what was that?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" She whimpered.

"Is everything okay in there?"

"NO! DOES IT SOUND LIKE EVERYTHING IS OK?"

Tenma and Cindy both exchanged confused looks and opened the door.

Kaitlyn looked over at them with tears in her eyes and ran up to them, falling to her knees.

"I'm sorry. I didn't do it! Please don't hate me! I'm sorry!" She begged.

"What? What's going on?"

"Astro got all deep and emotional on me then he got all weird then came in here and fell somehow then he fainted and I think he's dead…. Don't hate me."

They looked up and at Astro.

His hands were still shaking even though he appeared to be dead.

Tenma walked around Kaitlyn and to Astro as Cindy tried to calm her.

"He's fine." Tenma looked at them.

"Oh… good."

He turned Astro back on.

Astro slowly opened his eyes.

"Woah." Astro seemed a bit spooked.

"I told you not to overwhelm yourself." Tenma looked at him concerningly.

"I-I couldn't help it, I got scared, I don't wanna go back to being the old me and die."

"You won't." He hugged him.

"I'm just so scared, i'm terrified." he whispered

Astro slowly smiled and his hands began to stop shaking. He closed his eyes and slowed down his breathing.

A few hours later after Atom had left the house to go out, Emily and Kaitlyn kindly knocked on the door of Elefun's house to see if he was home.

Elefun made his way to the door 

"So what happen at Astro's while you were babysitting him?" Emily asked, looking over at Kaitlyn

"Uh... Stuff..." Kaitlyn looked away.

"What KIND of stuff?"

"Ugh OK I guess I'll just tell you... Well things got all dramatic with Astro again and I'm not really sure if they'll want me babysitting again... Ever... Cuz I kinda ran out the second astro came to."

"Woah."

"Yeah..."

Elefun opened the door.

"Oh it's you two girls, how's it going?"

"Good." Kaitlyn smiled.

"So uh, what brings you here?"

"We came to see Atom." Emily said.

"Oh, Atom just left a few minutes ago to go shopping, not sure where he's going shopping at though.." Elefun rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.

Kaitlyn groaned.

"Well, we better get going then!" Emily smiled.

"If I were you, i'd check the Containers Store first..."

"Haha yeah sounds like a good idea." Kaitlyn giggled as she got into her car.

The two of them said their goodbyes and made their way to Kaitlyn's car.

Atom made his way inside the store, pushing a cart inside and down the aisles.

He went down one of them and swore he spotted a familiar face.

"S-Stephen?" Atom called out.

"Uhhhhh..." Stephen slowly turned around and blushed.

"Atom?" Stephen tilted his head.

"Yeah, it's me!"

Stephen put his hoodie on and tighten it with the strings.

"I'm not here."

Atom chuckled before thinking.

"Wait, you don't shop here?"

"I know, i'm just hiding from my mom because she's looking at boring girly stuff."

"Ahhhh, I see..."

Atom pushed the cart further.

"Well, you wanna come with me, or would you rather stay there?"

"Meh, I'll stay."

"Well I'll see you later then!"

"You too!"

Atom pushed the cart and walked away.

Emily and Kaitlyn later on made their way inside the store.

"Hmm this place is kinda big," Kaitlyn looked around.

"Well duh, they sell containers?! Do you know how many types of containers exist, and colors?!" Emily replied.

"Oooo look at this neat pink one over here!" She ran over to an assortment of different boxes.

"We're suppose to be looking for Atom."

"But. Emi. This."

Emily sighed.

"We're suppose to be looking for Atom."

"Mmmmmm. Fine."

Emily and Kaitlyn strolled around the store, looking for Atom.

"Oh my gosh Emi! Look at this giant container. It's huge!" Kaitlyn walked up to a large plastics container.

"Who knew they made them this big? You could fit like 3 people in here!"

"Oooh, I think I spotted Atom!"

"Really? Where?"

"Over there in the back of the store"

"Well let's go!" Kaitlyn grabbed Emily's wrist and pulled her over.

"GAH! Geez, calm down lady!"

Kaitlyn and Emily raced over to Atom.

"AAAAATTTOOOOMMMMMM!"

Atom turned around.

"What?" 

"Hi!"

"Oh, it's you guys!"

"Man, I've been running into a lot of people here."

"Well we wanted to come see you but you weren't home."

"Oh, yeah, i'm just here spending my allowance on stuff I think I need, when I probably don't, but don't care..."

Astro slowly staggered out of his room into the hallway, making his way to the kitchen to get a drink, he appeared to be off-balance and dizzy.

He tried to tightly grab the handle to fridge to open it, after finally getting a proper grip, Astro opened the door and with sleepy eyes tried figuring out where his drink was.

"WOAH!"

Astro regained his balance.

He looked behind him briefly to see someone walking in.

"Hello." Tenma said as he passed by him.

"Oh, hey." Astro turned to face Tenma.

"You feeling any better?" He asked, taking something out of the cabinet in front of him.

"A little, ah.. dizzy."

"You need more rest then."

"Huh?" Astro was lost. 

"Go. Back. To. Bed."

Astro sighed and closed the door to the fridge and sluggishly made his way back to his room.

"Well, I think I got enough stuff." Atom said as he put a final object in his cart.

"Finally!" Kaitlyn yawned.

"Oh, I didn't notice how long we were here." Atom looked at Kaitlyn.

"Eh. Not that long." She looked down at her phone.

"I'm just getting kinda bored."

"Oh, I see…."

The trio walked out of the store with Atom holdinging a semi-large bag in his hand.

They all got into Kaitlyn's car and she drove off.

"So where to next?" She asked.

"Well, maybe we could go downtown after I drop my stuff off." Atom looked at Kaitlyn.

"Sounds good. What do you think, Emi?"

"Sure."

They finally arrived back at Elefun's house.

"I'll be back in a sec." Atom said as he made his way to his room.

Atom came back out of his room a while later.

"Sure, 'i'll be back in a sec'" Emily chuckled.

"Oh, I had to put the stuff away, my bad."

Later on, they all made it downtown and walked along the sidewalk.

"Hmmm. So what do you guys wanna do? Just walk… or go somewhere… or… um..." Kaitlyn thought out loud.

"I dunno, we could walk around."

"If it floats your boat."

Atom had a look of confusion on his face for a moment and then laughed.

"Hey, why don't we go in here?"

"Ooh im in the mood for a frozen drink!" Emily exclaimed.

"Why not." Kaitlyn shrugged.

The three of them made their way inside the Starbuck.

A redhead was waiting in line to order and didn't notice Kaitlyn walking up behind him.

"So what do you want?" She turned around and looked at Emily and Atom.

"I dunno." Atom shrugged. 

"Ooooh! Get me a… uh…. vanilla….. bean… frozen drink!" Emily said as she eyed the menu.

"Ok. Vanilla bean for you. And Atom, I'll just get you….. a strawberry one."

"Sure, I love trying new things!" Atom shrugged with a smile.

Kaitlyn carelessly walked forward, she too, did not notice there was a person in front of her.

"Ah!" A voice yelped.

"Oh! Ah! Sorry! I didn't know anyone was in front of me."

The voice turned around.

"Oh, sorry miss, my bad, I uh-"

The person took a glance a Kaitlyn.

"Woah." he muttered.

"Uh.. y-you can just go ahead of me, I still can't decide what I want anyways." The person moved out of Kaitlyn's way.

"Oh. Thank you…. And sorry again about bumping into you." She smiled.

"It's okay, accidents happen." The person shrugged.

"Hehe. Yeah."

After finally ordering, the three sat down at a table and decided to talk for a little bit.

"I have a surprise for you two!" Atom exclaimed as he grinned.

"Ooooo! What is it?!" Emily's eyes widened. 

"Oh, it's at home!" Atom chuckled.

"What?! Well why would you tell us now and keep us waiting?" Kaitlyn looked slightly annoyed. 

"Well I had to put stuff away, and I forgot." Atom sighed. 

"Oh. It's ok. It's not that big of a problem. We do have all day, right?"

"Yeah." Atom looked down at the table and made circles on it with his index finger. 

"It's getting kinda boring in here. You think we should just keep walking around?" She looked around.

"Sure, i'm getting bored too."

They all sat up from the table and headed for the door.

Kaitlyn had dropped the 20 dollar bill in her back pocket on the ground and didn't realize it.

The person from before had finally gotten what he had ordered earlier and saw Kaitlyn heading for the door.

"Wait! Miss!" 

"Huh?" She turned around.

"You, uh, dropped something."

"Oh. Where?" She looked around at the floor.

"Um… over here."

"Oh." Kaitlyn walked over to where the person was and crouched down.

Kaitlyn and the person made brief eye contact for a moment until she picked up her 20$ bill and stood up again.

"Ah. Thanks." She grinned, her cheeks turning more rosy than normal.

"No problem. My name's Brandon." The person politely greeted her in a gentlemanly fashion.

"I-I'm Kaitlyn."

"Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn, nice to meet you miss Kaitlyn."

"Nice to meet you, too."

Brandon smiled and tried not to blush.

"Ah. B-bye." Kaitlyn waved and walked away, almost tripping on the leg of a chair.

"Goodbye miss Kaitlyn, it was a pleasure meeting you!" Brandon waved goodbye.

She tried hiding the redness on her face with one of her hands as she followed Emily and Atom out of the door.

Atom seemed more observant of his surroundings than normal as the three of them continued out on the sidewalk.

Kaitlyn walked slowly and stared at the ground as she took small sips of the iced coffee she still had in her hand.

Atom sighed.

She glanced over at him then back at the concrete.

They all made it to Elefun's house later on.

"You okay there Atom?" Emily tilted her head.

"Y-yeah." Atom nodded.

"You sure?" Kaitlyn looked over at him. 

Atom nodded his head again and slowly made it to his room.

"So uh, what do you wanna do now?" Emily looked at Kaitlyn.

"Didn't he have a surprise for us?"

"Oh yeah that's right! I totally forgot!"

Kaitlyn and Emily slowly made their way into the hallway and to Atom's door.

Atom was sitting on his bed, looking through old photos on his camera.

"Hey Atom. Remember, you have a surprise for us?" Kaitlyn peeked her head in.

"Oh… yeah."

The two girls walked in and sat besides him.

"You sure you're okay?"

Atom nodded and looked through a few more photos.

Emily put an arm around him.

He relaxed a bit and sighed again.

"I-I just feel like a terrible wreck."

"Why is that?" 

"I don't know, it's just something that happens from time to time."

"I just don't wanna leave everyone behind, I don't wanna forget about them, and I just feel terrible when I work myself up too much and get caught up in the craziest things and put the stupidest things first when I _should_ be making time for the people I care about, and I don't and it really bothers me alot."

"Sorry, am I boring you to death?"

"No."

Atom chuckled with a smile.

"I think I feel better after venting out my issues." Atom put his camera down and got up from his bed.

"This might take a while considering I stuff containers INSIDE of containers and then put them into BIGGER containers and THEN put them in my closet."

Emily and Kaitlyn looked at each other than at Atom as he began to take out multiple plastic containers out of this closet.

"Ah! Uh! C-close your eyes!" Atom blurted out.

"Gee, I forgot to wap these!" he muttered to himself.

He took out a semi-large box and a thinner box out from the plastic container and put that plastic container into another one, and another until he put the giant container into the closet.

"Here." Atom grabbed the semi-large box and walked over to Kaitlyn.

"Hold your arms out."

She took the box from him.

"Can I... open it?"

"Uh.. I didn't really wrap it, so…" 

She opened the box and smiled when she saw what was inside.

Atom smiled back at her and turned around to get the other box. 

He handed it to Emily.

Emily opened her eyes.

"Oh!" She took the top of the box off and set it aside.

"Oh, this is adorable, how'd you know?"

"Oh, I had Astro help me since I don't really know much about shopping and that sorta thing."

"You really didn't have to spend so much on us." Kaitlyn said as she carefully took a camera out of her box.

"Actually, I think I owe you guys a _lot_ more than what i've given you guys." Atom sat back down on his bed again.

"You guys have just-"

He yawned.

"Done so m-much for me… It seems o-only fair that I return the same kindness t-to you…"

"Aw. Thank you so much!" She smiled widened.

Atom smiled back and tried to keep his eyes open. 

"Maybe we should get going now." Kaitlyn whispered to Emily.

"Ok." Emily whispered back.

Kaitlyn turned out the light as her and Emily left his room.

"Bye." She whispered to Atom.

"B-bye." Atom faintly waved.

"Well today was kinda weird." Kaitlyn walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good word to describe it."

She sighed and leaned her head back.

"So what do you wanna do now?"

"I dunno." She shrugged.

"Same."

"Dangit, brain, stop thinking about that." She muttered to herself as she put her hands over her face.

"Huh?" Emily looked over at her.

"Um… Nothing..."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

"Hmm, ok."

She sighed.

"You didn't see what happened at the Starbuck, did you?"

"Not really. Wasn't really paying much attention."

"Then you don't understand my pain."

"Hmm, what do you mean?"

"Uggghh. You wouldn't understand."

Emily shrugged her shoulders. 

Roughly some time later, Astro ventured out of his room again, still a little unsure and worried as something seemed to be playing back in his mind over and over again.

He casually made himself comfortable on couch and looked around for the TV remote.

"I-I can't believe I did it." Astro muttered, looking straight forward with a blank face. 

"Did what?" A familiar voice said from the kitchen.

"Uh…." Astro slowly moved his head to catch a glimpse of them.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Don't tell me you're losing it again." Tenma walked out of the kitchen.

"Im my dreams, but I took care if it."

Astro tried not to chuckle.

"You'd never believe me if I told you what I did."

"Tell me." He lifted up his fork and put some of the food in his hand in his mouth.

"I uh… m-m- _killed _myself."

"In a dream."

"Killed yourself?" He swallowed. 

"Well my _old_ self, it started out as a heated argument and then i just I dunno, stabbed him I guess, and he died."

"Him? You mean you're 'conscience', or whatever you used to call it?"

"No not him, my _old_ self, or in better terms, the crazy person I wish not to become?"

"I see…."

"I know, it's strange…"

"Well it was a dream."

"Yeah, but i'd never _murder_ someone, even if it was an old me, even in _or_ out of a dream!"

"Well, you should take it as a symbol of getting rid of your old self." Tenma plopped down on the couch next to AStro.

"Hmmm, I guess." Astro shrugged and changed the channel.

"I just can't believe _I _did it."

"There's lots of things people do that they never thought they'd ever do. You'd be surprised."

"Like _you_?" Astro joked.

"Ah. Yeah. Yeah like me. But that was all in the past."

Astro laughed.

Tenma pouted.

Astro changed the channel again.

"Man, there's nothing good on TV anymore." He complained.

"Tell me about it."

Astro clicked through a few more channels. 

"Eh, I guess I'll just deal with this." Astro said, putting the remote down after stumbling on a children's channel.

"Heh." Tenma chuckled under his breath. 

Astro slowly scooted to Tenma and rested his head on his arm.

He looked over at Astro.

"Everyone must think I'm a human pillow." He scoffed.

"Yes, yes you are." Astro replied with a chuckle.

Tenma smiled.

"Okay, is it just me, or do I need help?"

"Cause like...I dunno...I never knew kids shows could be this interesting."

Tenma bursted out laughing.

"Eeeeyyyeaaah, that's a sign I need help, _now_."

"No. You're fine. It's kinda cute how you like these."

"Hmmmm… sure…" ((omg readers I tried my best but i had forgotten again what I was gonna type so I just typed that so sowwy ~Emily))

"It is."

"Pfft, Atom is worse, _this_ is him everyday, he's too childish for me, I swear if I told someone he was 8 years old they'd believe me!"

He laughed again.

"I'm not sure if I should take notice and do something about it, or just let him live life like a fourth grader."

"Just let him be. His innocence is a blessing. He could've turn out like you." Tenma joked.

"Yeah, maybe that's why he doesn't go out a lot, or uses social media, or do things I do…"

"Maybe he just doesn't want to."

"Maybe…"

"Maybe he doesn't _wanna_ be me, so he doesn't do things _I _do."

"Well you're not him. So you don't know."

"But in somewhat of a way I am.." Astro tried to make it sound mysterious.

"He may be your clone, but you have separate brains." He patted Astro__on the head.

"Pfft, I knew that."

"Suuure."

Astro rolled his eyes.

"Oh! I just remembered! I'll be back in a few minutes." Tenma got up and hurried into the hallway.

"Pfft, he abandoned me yesterday _and_ today, that's it, one day imma abandon that sucker and see how he feels" Astro folded his arms.

He began to swing his legs back and forth and suddenly took interest in what was on TV.

"I seriously need help." He muttered to himself.

"Hmm, maybe we could take a walk to pass the time?"

Emily and Kaitlyn were still sitting on the couch, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Sure." Kaitlyn got up.

Emily got up as well and the two of them made their way to the door.

They both exited the door and headed for the sidewalk.

"So..." Kaitlyn said as she began walking.

"I dunno."

"Come on Emi, don't you ever have anything interesting to talk about." Kaitlyn started poking Emily's cheek.

"Not really, I'm kinda boring most of the time."

"Well, you're not really _boring_." She brought her hand back down to her side.

"Hey look, that dude over there reminds me of Ed Sheeran, doesn't he? Red hair, t-shirt, skinny jeans?"

Kaitlyn looked over and squeaked a little when she saw him.

"Eee!" She hid behind Emily.

"Woah, you okay there?"

"Uh. Y-yup. Totally fine." She got herself together and walked next to Emily again.

"Hmmm…. okay."

Brandon was on the other sidewalk jogging at a steady pace, he had headphones in his ears, but he was still alert and aware of his surroundings.

He stopped when he saw Kaitlyn.

"Oh why hello there Miss Kaitlyn, nice to meet you again! Quite a beautiful day outside, isn't it?" Brandon called to her.

Kaitlyn looked over and blushed.

"H-hi!" She smiled and waved to him.

"It's nice to take walks here, I don't live in this neighborhood, but the park is too crowded for me, so I like to take walks here, instead."

"Yeah. This is a great place to take a walk."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"No! Not at all! Come on over."

"Uh, great!" Brandon blushed.

"So, have any plans for New Years?" He asked after making it to the other side of the street.

"No. Not really..."

"Me neither, I never seem to figure out what to do on New Years." He shrugged.

"Same here."

"I like your hoodie, goes great with your jeans."

"Oh. Uh. Hehe. Th-thanks." Kaitlyn looked down at the ground and blushed.

"Y-your welcome, miss."

She looked up at him and blushed harder.

"Uh, you okay there, your face i-is all red."

"Uh. Yeah! I'm fine!" She hid her face in her hands.

Brandon tilted his head in confusion.

She peeked over at him again.

He smiled at her gently.

She lowered her hands and giggled.

He giggled back.

"So um…. What do like to do? Like... um... hobbies and such?"

"Well, I usually like being fit and taking walks whenever I can, also gives me a chance to think about life -because who doesn't question life- I also tend to stay home and watch movies or watch things on TubeYou, nothing extraordinary or special."

"That's cool." Kaitlyn smiled.

"Hehe, I guess."

"You know, it'd be really nice to meet you again some other time, Miss Kaitlyn."

"Yes. That would be _exquisite_, _Mr._ Brandon." She giggled again.

"Oh." He seemed thrown off by Kaitlyn's sudden formal way of addressing him.

"Ummm okay, how about I come visit you for New Years?"

"Oh! That would be great!" She grinned.

"Sure, I'll make plans."

"Um… How about… I give you my number?"

"S-sure!"

He handed her his phone and she put her number in as "Miss Kaitlyn".

She chuckled a little as she handed his phone back to him.

He took the phone from her and put it back in his pocket.

"Oh!" Brandon looked at his watch.

"I-I must be on my way now, gotta get home in time for dinner."

"Oh..." Kaitlyn's smile faded a bit.

Brandon reached over for her hand.

"Hmm?" She seemed surprised.

"I'll see you New Years, Miss Kaitlyn." He said before kissing her hand.

Her face turned a bright red as his lips brushed against the skin of the back of her hand.

He slowly put her hand back into it's original position and headed off and away with a smile.

"B-bye..." Kaitlyn said softly as she waved to him, a big dorky smirk on her face.

"Woah, what was _that_ all about?" Emily seemed puzzled.

"I... I... Emi pinch me, I think I'm dreaming."

"I can't do that! That hurts! I should know…"

"I don't care! I need to know if this is real or not!"

"Okay, but when u start wincing in pain, don't come crying to me!" Emily warned before pinching Kaitlyn's arm.

"Ah... OK well I know I'm not dreaming, but I'm still not convinced that that just happened." She rubbed the spot where Emily pinched her.

"What do you mean?"

"It just seemed so surreal. Like something you would only read about in fairy tales. But it just... It just happened... And to _ME!"_ She almost seemed to be in a trance.

"Woah, woah, relax, as far as I'm concerned this isn't no Cinderella, sleeping beauty world."

"Don't ruin the moment, Emi."

"I'm just saying." She shrugged.

Kaitlyn stuck her tongue out.

"So uh, what do you wanna do now?"

"I don't know... Emily, did I just get asked out?"

"I dunno, I was clueless as to what was going on!"

"Well I think I just got asked out... I'm gonna need to think on this..."

"Hmm okay."

"So uh... Let's just keep walking..."

"Okie dokie!"

The next day Astro seemed confused as he walked out of his room and into the hallway like he did every morning.

He sat down at the table and sighed before thinking.

"Good morning." He heard someone say as they walked in.

"Ah!" Astro quickly turned around.

"Oh, did I scare you?"

"No, No, I just didn't expect anyone to be here."

"Well don't mind me, I'm just getting a glass of water."

Astro nodded, he couldn't help but keep thinking the same thing he thought yesterday.

"Don't think so hard, you'll hurt yourself." Cindy ruffled Astro's hair and lightly kissed his forehead before leaving the room.

"But I-I just can't, it's too much for me." Astro quietly said to himself, burrowing his head into his arms that were folded on the table.

Tears streamed down his face as he sniffled.

Astro couldn't help but think of what was to become of him, the memory replayed in his head like a broken record.

_I can't believe I did it._

"Morning professor!" Atom greeted as he came out of the hallway and made it to the living room.

"Morning, Atom." Elefun replied back.

Atom sat down at the table.

"So uh… what's for breakfast?"

"Hmmm, not sure, I was thinking you and Uran could come up with something."

Atom thought for a moment.

"Hmmm, something good for breakfast? Ah-ha! I'll be right back!" Atom got up from the chair and ran upstairs to Uran's room.

Astro continued to put his head down on the table as time passed and he couldn't help but shed a few more tears.

He felt uneasy and the world was getting blurry again. It felt like it was spinning so fast, Astro became rapidly dizzy and couldn't think straight.

He opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head up to catch a glimpse of the blurry window.

_Astro?_

_Astro?_

_ASTRO?!_

Astro put his head down again.

He heard faint footsteps around him, like someone was getting closer.

"No i'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it!" Astro pleaded aloud.

"I-I just don't wanna turn into you again!"

"Astro?"

Astro looked up and gasped.

Tenma placed a hand on Astro's head.

"You're starting to scare me..." He said with a concerned looked on his face.

"We have to do something about this." He pulled Astro in close to him and hugged him gently.

"We'll I've been trying, but I guess it's hard to change when you're haunted by your old self."

"I'm so sorry." He hugged him tighter as he spoke softly.

Astro sighed.

He sniffled as he buried his head into Tenma's shoulder and started crying again.

A few hours later, Emily and Kaitlyn went over to visit Atom again, Emily had left to use the bathroom while Kaitlyn made her way into the hallway and knocked on Atom's door.

"Ah! C-come in!" Atom seemed in a rush.

She slowly walked in.

Atom kept pacing back and forth around his room like a crazy person losing their mind.

"You… ok there?" She said as she closed the door behind her.

"Mmhmm, just freaking out, that's all."

"Why?"

"Oh, because I have the memory of a four year old."

"Oh. So you forgot something?"

"Uhh yeah, more like Stephen's birthday is on New Years and I forgot to get him something and I just spent my allowance and now i'm literally LOSING IT!"

"Oh…." She sat down on the bed.

"Well, if you need a little money, I'd be willing to lend it to you. I don't have much… but..."

"Ah! I wouldn't do that to you!"

"I really don't mind… as long as you pay it back."

"Yeah, I'd rather you keep the money."

Atom plopped down on his bed.

"So, uh.. what's up with you?"

"Oh.. um nothing much." She toyed with one of the curls of her hair.

"Cool." Atom looked at her and smiled.

"You know I couldn't help but remember about that red head you bumped into at Starbuck, I wonder if he remembers you, wouldn't that be cute?"

"I think it's kinda cute."

Her cheeks turned red.

"Oh, uh- you okay there? Your face is red? You're blushing?"

"Uh. Y-yeah."

"Oh haha, don't worry, I blush all the time, like when i'm singing in front of a mirror and someone walks in on me…"

Kaitlyn giggled.

"Hey, uh, do you think i'm _too_ friendly?"

"No."

"That's what I told Astro yesterday on the phone, he never believed me though." Atom folded his arms and pouted.

"Well anyways, back to what we were talking about, do you think he remembers you?"

" 'Cause not to be mean or talk dirty, but I saw the way he looked at you."

"And from experience, It looks to me like he likes you."

"Haha. Yeah. I think he _definitely _remembers me_.."_

Atom chuckled.

"And I think he likes me too." She blushed harder.

"Aww, isn't that adorable!"

"Ah what do I do? Ah-Ha!" Atom thought for a moment before giving Kaitlyn a hug. ((Lol, the feels were too much for Atom xD ~Emily))

"What's this for?" She chuckled.

"Too many feels, sorry."

She smiled.

Atom chuckled.

"So uh.. what are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm not sure…."

"Hmm, maybe you should get to know him? That's how I met- ooooohhhhhh, I need a gift!" Atom facepalmed.

"Anyways, me and Stephen actually met the day he moved to Metro City, and then we just keep meeting over and over again, and then THIS occurred, so it never hurts to try and meet him again."

"I kinda did already…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I just saw him again not long ago… yesterday in fact."

"Oh really? Did it turn out well?"

"I think so... He said he wanted to get together for New Years or something like that."

"That's awesome! You see, nothing wrong with meeting people again."

Atom broke off the hug.

"Yeah..." She smiled softly.

Atom chuckled.

"Oh wait! That means you're gonna have to find something nice to wear, right?"

"Oh. I forgot about that. And I don't have anything new..." She sighed.

"Well I could help you, you helped me get ready for my first date, so I might as well return the favor. I may not be _the best_ but i'd say i'm pretty good, Astro says I dress like a girl anyways, so you should be fine."

Kaitlyn chuckled again.

"Thank you so much!" She leaned over and gave him a big hug.

"Oh! Haha.. it's nothing!" Atom chuckled.

She broke off from Atom and laid back on the bed.

"I'm not sure whether I should be happy or terrified." She said with a half-hearted smile on her face.

"Haha, you should be happy, that way when other people see you happy, they become happy too!"

"Haha. Yeah I guess so."

"Hmmm, how do you feel about the color… baby blue?"

"Well, it would match my eyes, right?"

Atom looked into Kaitlyn's eyes for a moment.

"Yeah."

"Hmmm… i'm thinking."

Atom got up from his bed and walked over to his desk where he grabbed his sketchbook and sat down on his bed again.

"I don't really draw, but Astro got this for me and I use it to jot down ideas."

"Cool."

Atom grabbed a pencil and quickly sketched out a drawing.

"How about something like this?" Atom handed the sketchbook to Kaitlyn.

She propped herself up with her elbows and examined the sketch.

"That's really good. And I love your idea too."

"Really? Wow I uh, wasn't really expecting- that response!" Atom blushed.

Kaitlyn giggled.

"so, uh, now all we need is to go to the store and see if they have something similar."

"Sounds good."

Atom smiled.

"Let's go right now!" He jumped off the bed excitably.

"Uh. O-ok!" Kaitlyn sat up.

"Haha." Atom walked over to his closet and pulled out a jacket.

"You might wanna wear a jacket incase it gets cold."

"OK."

They walked out of Atom's room and to the door.

Emily was walking into the living room, shaking water off her hands.

"Oh hey guys, how's it going?"

"We're going shopping." Kaitlyn looked at her.

"Oh, uh, okay?"

"Well come on Emi, stop moaping around and wasting time. Let's go."

"Ah! Okay i'm moving!"

They all got into Kaitlyn's car and she drove off.

Astro quietly sat down on the couch, everything still wasn't clear to him, he kept muttering things to himself as occasional tears slipped out and streaked down his face.

Tenma stood at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall and looking at Astro with a pained look on his face.

Astro tried focusing but it wouldn't work.

His mind was running, going on for miles and miles with thoughts that consumed him whole and left his sitting there helplessly, like it was the end of all ends.

Astro sighed.

Cindy walked up next to Tenma and he wrapped his arm around her.

"He was doing so well." He sighed.

"What do you think happened?" She looked up at him.

"I don't know. And its killing me that I don't know how to help him. Its even worse seeing him act so sad like that."

"I wish I could do something." Cindy leaned her head against Tenma's shoulder.

"I know." He kissed the top of her head.

Astro held onto the couch a bit more tighter.

He cringed and shook his head in fear.

"You need to relax Astro, just calm- calm down." Astro muttered to himself.

He took a deep breath.

Astro sighed and switched his position and rested his head on the couch.

He desperately tried to go to sleep but his hands began to shake.

He felt a hand gently touch his back and slowly move back and forth.

Astro opened his eyes to see who it was.

Tenma smiled faintly.

"Oh, i-it's you, can't really see you…. that well, I'm kinda dizzy at the moment."

"You really shouldn't let this silly dream of yours get the best of you. I know you're stronger than that."

"It's not the dream anymore, this has become bigger than that, it's spun off to far places I had no clue about!"

Tenma sighed.

"If only there was something I could do to help you..."

Astro closed his eyes again, this time he didn't want to fall asleep.

"Maybe you could try thinking of something else. Something positive."

Astro nodded.

He tried to envision something positive in his mind, a faint smile and a little chuckle came out of him.

Astro began to ease a little and snore as he drifted off to sleep.

"Thats a good boy." Tenma smiled as he patted Astro on the back once more before getting up.

Astro woke up an hour later, he got up from the couch and walked into his room to grab something and then went back out to sit at the table.

"Hmmm, I should really catch up on my proportions." He said as he flipped through pages of his sketchbook.

He flipped to a blank page, clicked his mechanical pencil and began to draw slowly in the peaceful atmosphere.

Astro had finished the drawing hours later, not wanting to cause attention he quietly put the sketchbook back and went to watch TV.

He rubbed his eye for a moment and blinked.

"Hmm, I wonder what's for lunch?" He wondered aloud. 

Astro got up from the couch and went to the kitchen.

"Woah." Astro regained his balance after losing it on the way to the kitchen.

He made his way to the cabinet and opened it.

"Y-you know what, I think I should just lie down instead." Astro closed the cabinet and went back to the living room to lie down.

"Oh! I didn't see you walk in?" He said as he sat down on the couch next to Tenma.

"I think I'm getting dizzy again."

"Then maybe you should listen to me and stop getting up."

"But I was hungry, I still am..."

"You could've called me in to get you something."

"Pfft, do you think i'd remember after finishing an artwork and watching TV?

"Yeah. You know you don't have a memory problem, right? You're just lazy."

"Oh really, I never noticed." Astro chuckled.

He yawned.

"Woah I think that yawn came from like the depths of my soul right there!"

Tenma chuckled but was interrupted by his own yawn.

"Gosh. You must be contagious." He looked over at Astro.

"Haha, I wouldn't be surprised."

Tenma held his nose and puffed up his cheeks.

"You better not give me anything."

"Pfft, the only thing I could give you is my wisdom in laziness…"

"And maybe the ability to sleep during the day and work at night." Astro folded his arms proudly.

"Or your attitude." He laughed.

"Or my attitude."

"Well it could be worse."

"True."

After another 30 minutes had passed, Astro had drifted off to sleep.

But hours and hours had passed and Astro wouldn't wake up.

He still lied there fast asleep on the couch.

It was leading into the next day and Astro was still asleep on the couch.

And in his mind he was dreaming of a place.

A mysterious place.

And as the dream went on Astro's smile was slowly fading.

_What was to become of him?_

(END OF CHAPTER ONE!)


	2. When You Leave The Door Open

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga

Chapter Two: When You Leave The Door Open.

It had seemed like weeks had gone by, when only a day had passed, New Years Eve. Astro still wouldn't wake up, he lied there on the couch for what seemed like the beginning of time, sleeping and dreaming of lord knows what.

someone had walked into the living room and glanced over at the sleeping robot.

"Astro. It's time to wake up now. You've been sleeping for a whole day." Tenma lightly shook his shoulder.

Astro never responded he just returned to his original position and snored.

"Astro. Come on."

He never woke up.

"Fine then. Just keep sleeping. I won't bother you." Tenma continued on to the kitchen.

_There he was, walking along the empty sidewalks, he zipped up his jacket and looked around the unfamiliar area._

"_HEY! HEY YOU!" _

_He turned around quickly._

_The girl walked closer to him, huffing and wheezing, trying to catch her break. _

"_H-hey, I-I-"_

_The girl sighed and stood up._

"_Phew!"_

_He was confused. _

"_Hmmm, I reckon you ain't from here?"_

"_What?" _

"_Yeah I can tell, don't speak our dialect." _

"_**Dialect**__? I thought everyone spoke the same?"_

"_Well, we do, but, we say things a little __**differently**__ around here, takes tourist a while to adjust when they get here so we've just decided to learn __**their**__ dialect so we can talk to em'!" _

"_Names Jenny." The girl held her hand out._

"_And you are?"_

"_Astro."_

"_Astro? Astro? Hahaha, you know Astro means star in Greek?"_

"_Uh…. yeah." Astro held his hand out as well. _

"_Well, it was nice meeting ya, such a fine fella!" Jenny turned around and walked away. _

"_Wait! Where am I?!" _

"_Depends…"_

"_B-But this is a dream!"_

_Jenny paused._

"_PFFFFFTTTTTTTT." She bursted out laughing._

"_This ain't no dream."_

"_What do you mean, of course this is a dream! What else would it be?!" _

"_Your imagination."_

"_But isn't that what a dream __**is**__?"_

"_Honey, you're giving me a headache, I really need to be getting home for supper, you just keep doing whatever you were doing before and forget about this, geez."_

"_But wait!"_

_Jenny had faded away the more father she walked from Astro. _

_Astro sighed._

Kaitlyn had decided to go visit Tenma and Cindy to make up for the last time she had come over and swore she almost killed Astro.

She knocked on the door.

Cindy went over to the door and answered it.

"Oh Kaitlyn, it's so nice to see you again!" She greeted.

"Hi." Kaitlyn smiled nervously.

"Uh, you wanna come inside?"

"Sure."

Both Kaitlyn and Cindy walked inside, Kaitlyn noticed Astro was sleeping on the couch.

"Um... I'd like to apologize for the other day... I didn't really get to say anything because I was in a bit of a panic..."

"It's okay Kaitlyn, it wasn't your fault."

"Really?" She looked up at Cindy.

"Yes."

She smiled.

"So.. Uh... Is he OK?" Kaitlyn looked over at Astro.

"Well he's been sleeping on that couch for a while now…"

"Wait... He never woke up since I left?! Oh my god I really did kill him, didn't I?! Oh geez! It is all my fault!"

"No No Kaitlyn, it's not your fault, he's been there since yesterday. We just can't seem to wake him up, that's all. I'm sure he's fine."

"O-ok..." She sniffed.

Cindy left the room leaving Kaitlyn standing there with Astro sound asleep on the couch.

"Hey. Dude. Wake up. You're like scaring everybody." She walked up to him.

AStro did nothing in response.

"Dude…." She poked his forehead.

He did nothing.

"Ugh! Astro! Just wake up." She poked him on the face some more and pulled his ear in an attempt to wake him.

Astro still wouldn't wake up.

"Hmm… What else would wake you up…. Maybe I can tempt you with food…."

"What are you doing?"

"Ah! T-tenma! Hi!" Kaitlyn turned around to see Tenma standing right behind her.

He looked over her shoulder and at Astro.

"Just let him sleep, Kait."

"Oh. Ok…. You know, you really can scare a person. Like with that whole silent-ominous-sneaking-up-on-people thing."

"It's kinda a gift. Takes a lot of practice." He smirked and ruffled her hair as he walked away.

"Eh. Watch the hair…." She pouted.

"Guess I have a while till I have to go. Might as well just chill here for a while." She thought as she sat down and turned on the TV.

_Astro kept walking the same street, but it seemed like everything was the same, like he was walking in circles._

_All hope that he would ever wake up diminished from him. _

_He sighed. _

"_Hey uh, not to be rude, but where you going anyways?"_

"_I dunno." _

"_Oh, are you like um, what they call those, like a stray dog, but like for humans or somethin like dat?" _

_Astro sighed again. _

"_Hey, don't be so in the dumps, remind me of my uncle Ben! He always walking around with the saddest face this side of town!" _

"_I just don't know when i'm gonna wake up." _

"_Wake up?"_

"_This is a dream."_

"_Pffft, you still in that little folk fantasy?" _

"_Yes." _

"_Well child, I don't know how to help you, you think this is some kinda dream then you need to prove it." _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well if you think this a dream, then you gotta prove it's a dream, once you've proven it's a dream, you should wake up!"_

"_And how am I suppose to do that?"_

"_Well, ahhhhh, I dunno." _

_Astro stopped for a moment to think._

"_Why don't you come over for supper and I show you to my mom and pop, and maybe they could help." _

_Astro shook his head and walked away._

"_Hey! where you going?!"_

"_I'm leaving."_

"_Wait! You can't leave __**now**__!" _

"_I said i'm leaving!"_

"_Astro! You get back over here!"_

"_I'M LEAVING!"_

"_FINE! Go ahead and leave you worthless soul, and you can go ahead and figure it out yourself, since you __**clearly**__ don't need me!"_

_Astro headed on his way out, thinking about how he could prove it was a dream. _

About an hour had passed. Kaitlyn looked around the house looking for Tenma or Cindy. She finally found Tenma working on something in the basement.

"Hey, Tenma."

"Yes?" He looked back at her.

"I have to go now. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving."

"Oh. OK. See you again soon."

She waved goodbye then left the house.

"So where'd Kaitlyn go?"

"Oh she went over to Tenma's I think."

"Oh, I hope she gets back soon, she needs to get ready for the thing."

"The thing?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm calling it."

Emily and Atom were at Elefun's waiting for Kaitlyn to come back, Atom was sitting on his bed while Emily took a seat in the office chair.

She laughed.

Atom got up from his bed and made his way to his closet.

"So did you ever find a gift for Stephen?"

"No, _but_ I did make him something."

"Cool."

They heard someone walk into the house and down the hall.

"Oh, Kaitlyn must be back!"

She walked into the room.

"Kaitlyn your back!" Atom greeted cheerfully.

"Haha. Yeah."

"So uh, when do you plan on getting ready?"

"I dunno. I guess soon." She shrugged.

"Well do you know what time you have to be there?"

"Um. I think he texted it to me last night..." Kaitlyn took out her phone.

Atom grabbed something off a hanger and handed it to Kaitlyn.

"Here, you wanted me to hold it for you."

"Yeah. Thanks." She smiled.

Atom smiled back and went to close the closet.

"So what are you doing for new years?" Atom asked Emily as he made his way back to his bed to sit down again.

"Nothing." Emily shrugged.

"Haha same." Atom chuckled.

"So um... You think I should put this on now?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Sure, we'll wait for you outside." Atom said as he looked at Emily.

Both Atom and Emily got up and left so Kaitlyn could change her clothes.

Kaitlyn sighed as she began to get ready.

A few minutes later she let Emily and Atom back in.

Kaitlyn turned around and looked at them.

"AW, it looks pretty." Atom complimented with a smile.

She blushed and smiled back.

Atom went back to sitting on his bed.

Kaitlyn sighed again as she sat next to him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah..."

Atom looked at her for a moment, reached his hand out and started parting her hair.

"There." Atom smiled.

She smiled faintly.

"Thanks." She said so softly you almost couldn't hear her.

Atom looked around the room with a smile, swinging his legs back and forth.

"I-I... I don't know if I'm ready for this..." Kaitlyn whispered.

"Aww don't worry Kaitlyn, i'm sure you're ready, I believe it!"

She brought her knees up to her chest and sighed again.

Atom sighed back and scooted closer to her.

"I'm just afraid I'll have my heart broken again..." She sniffled.

Atom put his arms around her.

"It'll be fine." He whispered.

"OK. I'll take your word for it."

Atom smiled and hugged her.

After Kaitlyn and Emily left and Kaitlyn had dropped Emily off at her place, she went off to Brandon's house.

She parked on the street in front of his home.

"OK, Kait. Don't be nervous. You got this." She said to herself.

She took a deep breath and got out of the car.

She walked up to the door and knocked.

A few moments later, Brandon came out and opened the door.

"Oh Miss Kaitlyn! I see you've come over!" He greeted.

"Yeah." She giggled and blushed.

"Well, uh, come inside."

"Thank you." She stepped inside.

"No. Thank _you._"

"Your house looks very nice." Kaitlyn looked around.

"Oh uh, thanks."

"My parents had to step out for a while so it's just gonna be us for sometime."

"Oh. Ok."

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"No. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Kaitlyn followed Brandon into the living room where he sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

"Ummm.. i'll be right back, you can help yourself to the couch and watch TV, I even have the Ultra HDD channels."

"Oh. Ok."

Brandon awkwardly walked away and slipped into the kitchen.

An hour had passed, Brandon finally returned.

"Uh, Miss Kaitlyn, I uh- need your help, over here?"

She got up and walked over to the kitchen.

The two of them walked from the kitchen to the dining room where the table was nicely decorated and covered in all kinds of foods arranged neatly.

"Did you do all this?"

"Uh, y-yes."

"It's beautiful!" Kaitlyn looked back at him and smiled.

He smiled back.

Brandon walked over to one of the chairs and pulled it out so Kaitlyn could sit.

She sat down gently and let him push her up to the table. 

He walked over to the chair on the other side of the table and sat down.

"So how was your day?" Brandon began.

"Good. But a bit boring…."

"Ah I know how you feel…"

"I was also reminded how creepy one of my friends is." Kaitlyn chuckled nervously.

"Oh is that so?"

She nodded.

"He's definitely something."

Brandon chuckled.

Kaitlyn smiled and took a bite of some food.

Her eyes widened.

"You made this?"

"Yes."

"It's amazing!"

"Oh, I-I'm glad you think so." Brandon blushed.

She giggled.

The two of them talked and talked for a while until Brandon got up to get all of the dirty dishes.

"I'll be back in a sec." He said, carrying dirty dishes into the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?" Kaitlyn asked.

"No, it's okay, I can handle this."

"Are you sure? I'd be glad to help you out."

"No no, you just stay there, i'll be fine."

"Alright..."

A few minutes later, Brandon came back out with dessert in his hand.

"Oh. That looks good!" Kaitlyn said as he placed one of the plates in front of her.

Brandon chuckled.

After finishing their dessert, the two of them went back to the living room.

Brandon sat down on the couch and got comfortable.

Kaitlyn sat next to him.

The two of them watched TV together for a while.

"What time is it?" Kaitlyn yawned.

"Almost close to 10." Brandon replied.

"Hmmm. 2 more hours until it's 2037. Then I can say 'I saw you a whole year ago!'." She giggled.

Brandon chuckled.  
He slowly put his arm around her.

Her cheeks went red.

She was too sleepy to realize when she rested her head on his shoulder.

He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand.

She smiled and closed her eyes.

Brandon took her glasses off and set them aside and rested his head on top of hers.

She put her arms around him as she slowly fell asleep. 

"_Okay, okay, you got this Astro. Just gotta relax and you'll be awake before you know it." Astro sighed. _

"_HEY!"_

"_Ugh, not you again!"_

"_What are ya doing?!"_

"_I'm gonna prove this is a dream." _

"_But what if it's not a dream, you jump off that cliff you're gonna die!" _

"_That's the point."_

"_Astro, i'm not gonna let you fall through with this!"_

"_Too late."_

Astro had woken up a few minutes later with tears in his eyes as he felt slightly scared but yet relieved that he had woken up.

He got up and walked into the kitchen.

He sniffled as he opened the fridge.

"Oh. You're awake." Tenma said from the kitchen table.

Astro sniffled again.

"Are you OK?"

He nodded.

"Feeling any better?"

"I-I think so…"

"That's good."

Astro closed the fridge and went to sit at the kitchen table.

"Phew! How long have I been asleep?"

"About a day and a half..."

"Really? It feels like years."

Tenma shrugged.

"And I had the weirdest dream -well all my dreams are weird- but this one seems weirder than the other ones."

"What was it about?"

"I _really_ have no clue." Astro shook his head with widened eyes.

"Hmm. Maybe thats what was keeping you from waking up. Your brain just _had_ to finish that dream."

"I guess."

"But I dunno, it doesn't sound normal to me, then again _I'm_ not normal so it might make sense…."

"Well. It's all over now."

"Yeah, I guess…."

"I'll make you something to eat, you haven't eaten for days."

"What? What do you mean I haven't eaten for days, it's called a well balanced diet!"

"Astro…."

"What?"

"You're going to eat whatever I make you and you're going to like it.

"I know I am." Astro chuckled. 

"It's just hard to adjust to somethings like getting the hang of the whole three-meals-a-day thingy, and I've suddenly become nocturnal now."

"Changing can be hard sometimes, yes. But as long as its for the better, then you have to power through it."

"Yeah, but this is the reason I get tired in school 'cause i'm suppose to be sleeping and i'm not and when bedtime comes I wanna stay up 'cause that's when i'm usually awake."

"Well, if it becomes a problem, then I'm going to have to give you a curfew."

"I thought you already did?"

"Yes. But this time I'm taking away all your electronics and your sketchbook."

"Good."

"Good."

"Good."

"Excellent."

"Splendid."

"Satisfactory."

"Wait, satisfactory means average which is a lower standard than excellent."

"... 'Superb' then. Happy?"

Astro chuckled.

"Magnificent."

"Extraordinary."

"Geez uh…. wait, lemme think…."

"Epic."

"Outstanding."

"Amazing!"

"Splendiferous."

"Is that even a _word_?"

"Yes. My boy. Yes it is."

"Dang, I give up then."

Tenma chuckled.

"Better luck next time."

"Pfft, sureeee."

"So what are we gonna do for New Years?"

"I don't know. What would you like to do?"

"Nothing."

"Pft. Well that's what I was planning on doing." 

Astro chuckled. 

"Hmmm, can't wait till New Years, surprisingly."

"You know, I wonder what everyone else doing for New Years."

"I dunno, New Years hasn't even come yet."

"Its in 2 hours, Astro."

"Wait, what?!" Astro took a double take.

"Yeah. It is. Geez all that sleeping must have messed up your ability to tell time."

"Yeah, and other things…."

"Maybe that's why I don't sleep a lot, or at least I used to."

"But now i've forced myself to sleep more and i'm fine."

"At least I think I am."

"Do you think I'm fine?"

"Yeah you're fine."

"Yes! Life goal accomplished!"

They both laughed.

Astro thought for a moment and slowly smirked.

"What's the smirk for?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Sureeeee."

"I'm going to give Atom the most impossible task anyone could give him."

"And what is that?"

Astro tried not to laugh.

"To not act like a little kid a whole day."

"He'd blow it within the first few minutes when he'd walk up to Elefun and tell him good morning!"

Tenma chuckled.

"It'd take him a lot of effort to accomplish that."

"So it's perfect for him." 

"So uh, how's the food coming along?"

"Almost done."

"Yum, You know I like the idea of food, but not so much of eating it."

"Maybe that's because most of my time here I never got to eat or I starved myself to death, but now that I have a chance to actually eat, I dunno, it gets weird in my brain."

"Less talky. More eaty." Tenma placed a plate of food in front of Astro.

Astro chuckled and reached for the fork. 

Minutes had gone by and it was almost 11.

Brandon was looking at the TV with sleepy eyes and occasionally looked down at Kaitlyn who had fallen asleep.

Kaitlyn woke up a few minutes later.

She rubbed her eye and looked up.

"Oh! M-Miss K-Kaitlyn, you're awake!" He said in a sleepy voice.

She realized she was holding onto him and blushed. 

"It's gonna be New Years in an hour."

"I-it is?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Hmmm."

Brandon tried to hide his yawn.

Kaitlyn couldn't help but giggle.

"You sleepy too?"

"Uh-no of course not."

"Come on now. I heard you yawn there. And your eyes look tired too." She smirked. 

"Okay so i'm a _little_ tired…"

"A _little_ tired?"

"Yes."

"You sure you're just _a little _tired?"

Brandon nodded with a chuckle.

"Sure you're not _really _tired?"

"Nope."

"Well, I'll trust you on that."

He smiled.

She moved her head a little and got comfortable.

Brandon changed the channel. 

The both of them yawned at the same time.

"Phew! I can't believe I actually finished the whole plate!" 

Astro burped.

"Oh gawd that was nasty! Phew!" He waved his hand around. 

"So how far are we from New Years?"

"About half an hour." 

"Cool." 

Tenma got a drink out of the fridge then sat back down.

"So uh, anything happen while I was sleeping?"

"No."

"Hmmm interesting."

"Well. Kaitlyn came over. But that was about it."

"Oh really, well that's something different."

"How is that so different?"

"Well how many people actually show up here?"

"Her, Emily, Atom, Brianna. Um. Wow. I thought more people came here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we're all just loners, just deal with it…"

Tenma chuckled.

"Yeah I know."

"You know, this is actually my first _actual _New Years, don't even bother asking what I did the previous years, although you can kinda guess yourself."

"You wanna turn on the TV now and wait for the countdown?"

"I dunno, never seen it before, last year I ended up watching soap operas with the professor because he refused to change the channel and I had nothing else to do."

"Elefun is a strange, strange little man."

"Haha, I love how you used the word _little_."

"Well come on. Let's go in the other room now."

"Okie dokie!" Astro got up from the chair and walked with Tenma. 

"It's getting close to midnight, wanna watch the countdown?"

"Sure." 

Brandon changed the channel again.

A few minutes passed and it was almost time for the countdown. 

He looked down at Kaitlyn.

She moved her head a bit and yawned again.

Brandon kept glancing at his watch and then at Kaitlyn.

The TV began the countdown.

"10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5." People chanted.

"4. 3."

"2."

"**1!**"

Crowds cheered and fireworks bursted into the sky as the ball dropped.

Brandon looked down at Kaitlyn.

"Happy New Year!" He smiled. 

She smiled and looked up at him. 

"Happy New Year."

"Ah! Can you believe it, 2037!" Astro exclaimed.

"Nope. Still feels like 2036 to me."

"same." Astro chuckled.

(END OF CHAPTER TWO!)


	3. The After-Party

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga

Chapter Three: The After-Party.

Later on after midnight and it was morning, Atom set out the front door on his way outside to Stephen's.

Astro was sitting on his bed, writing a few things in his journal and gasping when a new idea came to mind.

Atom knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

Stephen answered the door a few minutes later.

"Oh! Hey Atom!" He greeted.

Atom smiled brightly at him.

"Haha, you okay there?"

Atom nodded.

The both of them walked inside and into Stephen's room.

"So…." Atom began.

"What?"

"Do you _not_ know what today is?"

"Nope. Not a clue." Stephen shook his head with a smile.

Atom sighed.

He grabbed something out of his messenger bag and set it down on the floor.

He walked over and sat down next to Stephen.

"Happy birthday." Atom pulled Stephen in close for a hug as he placed a photo in his hand.

Atom broke off the hug to let Stephen take a look at the picture.

Stephen took a moment to look at the picture he slowly began to blush as he smiled and looked at it.

He put it down and looked over at Atom who was gazing around the room.

He scooted closer and engulfed Atom in a hug.

Atom blushed.

Astro walked out of the bathroom and quietly repeating to himself the word "Bread", he made his way to the kitchen table and said the word again, this time in a normal tone and a bit more prominent.

"You… ok?" Tenma looked at him as he made breakfast.

"Uh huh." Astro nodded.

"OK then..."

"Bread."

"Bread?"

"Yes, bread."

"Do you want bread to eat? Or are you just saying the word?"

"Nope, just saying the word."

"Because bread is bread, and bread is life because bread is bread."

"I really should rethink my life." Tenma muttered under his breath.

"Yes you should."

"Bread."

"I don't need to check your programming, do I?"

"Hmmm, maybe i'll do a video on bread?"

"And no."

"OK. Well here's your breakfast. Which is, coincidentally, French toast." He placed a plate of food in front of Astro.

Astro chuckled.

"I wonder how Atom's doing at Elefun's, he hasn't called in a while." Astro began after taking one bite.

"You don't think he locked the poor soul in the basement and is feeding him scraps?!" Tenma asked sarcastically.

"Pfft, no."

"Yes. Of course not. I was joking."

"I know."

A few hours later, Astro was on the phone with Atom.

"_...Really?"_

"Yep, goes into effect tomorrow."

"_Pfft, sure."_

"You sure you're ready, this is a hard task for you?"

"_Yeah, I can do it!"_

"Okay, and remember you _have_ to go the full 24 hours, you mess up for even a _millisecond_ it's over."

"_Pfft, too easy."_

"Okay, if you say so."

The two of them talked for a while until Astro hung up the phone.

"Ha. I can't wait to see him screw this up." He chuckled.

Astro got up from his bed and went to go grab his camera so he could start recording his vlog.

"Whaddup everyone, it's the not-so-mythical Astro here."

"And today we are talking about…"

"Bread."

"Because bread is bread and bread is life because bread is bread."

"And if you don't know what bread looks like, it's kinda like a square-ish thingymabobber, whatever you call it, I dunno."

"And one bread is called a 'bread' and a bunch of bread together is called a 'loaf of bread'."

"And there's many different kinds of bread like Cuban bread, French bread -not to be racist- there's a whole bunch of different bread for different things."

"Like you can use bread for french toast."

"You can make toast and put chole- I mean butter on it."

"Yum."

"Or you can just eat it because bread is in fact edible."

"And it's also a starch, so don't pack on too much of the carbohydrates."

"Dang, I need to stop talking in Biology terms."

"Anyways."

"Bread."

"I don't really eat bread a lot, because i'm actually -believe it or not- i'm married to my butter crackers dude."

"_Those_ are my drugs dude."

"Like I no ish lie-ing!"

"I suck a whole box of those in a day."

"Now that says something."

"But I eat it plain."

"Toppings scare me."

"Nutela."

"Peanut butter."

"Just."

"No."

"Bitch please."

"No."

"Anyways, back to bread!"

"Well now that I think about it, there isn't really much to talk about when it comes to bread."

"Thisiswhycrackersarebetter!"

Astro looked down.

"Oh hello, nice to see you today, uh huh, hmmmm I see, here to embarrass me again? yeah I can tell, uh huh."

"I honestly don't know what to do anymore!"

"And you're still there?"

"Still there."

"Y-you're not gonna go away?"

"No?"

"No?"

"Fine."

"Go ahead, not gonna bother me." Astro folded his arms.

"I really don't know how people deal with this in public."

"Thankfully, this has not happen to me in public, but mostly at home and when it does I just usually awkwardly walk away."

"Just like."

"YOU SAW NOTHING BITCH!"

"Pffft, bread."

"Okay i've officially established that i'm too lazy than the average lazy person because I can't even end this video."

"So uh, Happy New Year."

"Like, sub, add me, ummm, I think that's it."

"Oh yeah, and eat butter crackers, you won't regret it, I swear!"

Astro stopped recording.

Kaitlyn was rushing through her house trying to find something.

"Ahhhh. Where is it?! I can't go back without it or I'll dieeee."

"Ah ha! There you are!" She reached down underneath the coffee table and tried reaching for the eraser that fell down there.

"Almost gotcha! Come on lucky eraser, don't fail me now!"

There was a knock at the door.

"Huh?"

She tried getting up but hit her head on the table.

"Ah! I got it!" She yelled as she rushed over to the door.

She rubbed her head as she opened it.

"Oh! Uh, hello Miss Kaitlyn!"

"Brandon? Hi! What brings you here?"

"Nothing really, just wanted to say hi."

"Oh! Well, come in." Kaitlyn smiled as she let him inside.

Brandon and Kaitlyn walked inside.

"Sorry if things look kinda messy." She sat on the couch.

"Oh it's okay."

"Yeah. We're just working on packing. Almost done though."

"Packing?"

"Yeah. Pack- oh..." She got up and walked towards the kitchen.

"I didn't tell you?"

"Ummm, no I do not believe so…"

"Oh. Well I don't really live here. This is kinda like a vacation home. I really live in Pennsylvania." She said slowly and stopped walking.

"Oh, I see."

"I must've forgotten to tell you..."

"...Yeah."

"Gosh. I'm such an idiot. One of the most important things about me and I forget to tell you!" She put her head down and hugged her arms.

"No No, it's ok."

"No its not... I bet you hate me now."

"No I don't."

"But..." She sniffled.

"It's ok."

"I guess I didn't tell you because... Well because I like you... And it would only remind me that I won't be able to see you for _months_."

Brandon sighed.

"I don't want you to have to deal with that either."

"I-I understand."

Kaitlyn sighed.

"I'm sorry that I-I'm acting so weird right now…." She chuckled nervously.

"It's okay."

She took a deep breath and straightened her posture.

"It's ok if you don't want to see me ever again, to avoid heartbreak." She turned to Brandon and said with a large smile on her face.

"No No, I would never do that to you."

Brandon got up and walked over to where Kaitlyn was.

"I know..." She looked away as her smile faded.

"I'm sorry… again..."

"It's ok."

She looked up at him again and blushed.

Brandon smiled.

She smiled back.

The next day, Atom walked out of the hallway and into the living room where he sat down for a little while.

"Good morning, Atom." Elefun greeted

"Good morning." Atom said in an unusual voice.

"Ah, so I see you're taking my advice?"

"Uhhhhh… yeah."

Elefun smiled and walked into the kitchen to make breakfast.

Atom tried to reach the remote, but quickly changed his mind and retracted his hand.

Uran came downstairs with a teddy bear in her hand, she sat down on the couch next to Atom.

"Isn't that mine?" Atom asked.

"Yep." Uran replied as she played with the teddy bears arms.

Atom decided not to do anything and just ignore Uran.

But he couldn't help but stare at her as she played around with the teddy bear by hugging it constantly and trying to get it to dance.

Uran set the teddy bear down next to Atom and got up to go talk to the professor.

Astro sat down for breakfast at the kitchen table like he did every morning.

"So I found out something, which may or may not surprise you… but I found it out." Astro began.

"What did you find out." Tenma looked up from a magazine he was looking at.

"I have an addiction to crackers."

"I already know that. _Everybody _knows that."

"Really? Gee…."

"Yes. You talk about crackers at least twice a day."

"Well yeah because they taste good and I like to eat them while i'm watching TV but not with any toppings because toppings scare me."

Tenma's eyes slowly drifted back down to what he was reading.

"I think I might need help…."

"No. You're fine."

"Well thats… nice."

"Mmhmm."

Astro took a moment to think.

"Have you ever tried Nutela?"

"Yes…."

"I don't like it."

"Good for you."

"Hold on…. lemme guess…."

"You're either…. Bored…. uninspired….ummm...annoyed…. am I getting close here?"

"Sorta."

"Uninterested?"

"Yup."

"Well gee I never knew I was _that_ boring…"

"No. It's not you. I'm just tired."

"Same, I should be sleeping now and i'm not, it's my nocturnal instincts speaking to me…." 

"You have to … readjust your sleeping schedule, remember." Tenma said with a few yawns.

"I am, but it's not working."

"This is all Elefun's fault stressing me out, keeping me up all night, it's taken a toll on me."

"Not everything is Elefun's fault. A lot of things are his fault, but not that."

"Well this wasn't his fault _directly_ it was more of a chain reaction of effects, which led to the altering of my sleeping cycle _which_ made me become nocturnal."

"You know you can't really be _nocturnal._ You're just sleep deprived. It's completely different."

Astro blinked.

"...I see…"

"Well uh… what now?"

Tenma shrugged.

"Well there has to be _something_ to do…"

"I don't know. I'm fine sitting here reading. If you really wanna do something, then help me and look after your stepmother for me today. They doctor says she needs rest? Pft. I'm the one that needs rest."

"Eh sure, if it'll pass the time."

"Wow. Didn't think you'd actually agree to that."

"Well when you have nothing better to do, it's kinda your only option."

"Hmm. Well she's still sleeping right now, I'll tell you what you can do later."

"Okay." Astro made circles on the table with his index finger and rested his head on his hand.

At the end of the day, Atom walked sluggishly out of the bathroom and down the stairs, into the hall to his room. He couldn't stop yawning.

He opened the door and closed behind him when he got inside.

He heard a knock at the door as he got into bed.

"Uh… h-hello?" Atom called out.

The door opened and Elefun poked his head in.

"Goodnight, Atom." He smiled. 

"Goodnight, professor!" Atom blurted out excitedly.

Elefun smiled and closed the door.

"Wait a minute…"

Atom facepalmed.

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!" He sounded like he was going mad.

Atom sighed.

"You know what, I just need to calm down and relax, it's just a dare, not a big deal…"

Atom soon calmed down.

The next day, Astro was on the phone with Atom after breakfast.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA I still can't believe you failed!" Astro was laughing really hard.

"Dude, it was at the last minute, okay, chill!"

"No! I will _not_ chill! I will laugh my ass off all I want!"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Atom rolled his eyes as he turned a page in his book he was reading.

"What are you laughing so loud about?" Tenma opened Astro's door.

"Wha? Nothing." Astro shook his head.

"HE'S A MONSTER TENMA! A MONSTER!"

"Pfft, i'm not a monster, don't listen to him, Atoms just making up mumbo jumbo."

"MONSTER!"

"I guess you lost the dare?" He leaned on the doorway.

"At the last frickin minute!"

"Pfft, you're twitching."

"Wh- how'd you know?"

"Because I always twitch when i'm pissed off."

"Wait, I thought you fainted?"

"No, that's when I'm stressed, stressed and pissed off are two totally different things."

"Well I still think you're a monster."

Tenma sighed and walked into the room.

"Nobody here is a monster. And Atom, you have the right to act however you want, you shouldn't let Astro tell you that you can't."

"Thank you! Someone speaks my language!" Atom exclaimed.

"But Astro is right in showing you that you may be a little too nice. Someday you're going to have to stand up for yourself, and being nice isn't going to help you in that situation."

Atom sighed.

"I know."

"Now you two be nice to each other, ok?"

Astro bursted out laughing.

"I'm serious, Astro."

"Haha, I think it's gonna take Astro a _really_ long time before he starts acting nice, especially to me."

"Well, I believe he can learn to respect others."

"I think so too, but it might be a while till that day comes."

"You better start practicing now, Astro." Tenma left the room.

"You're welcome citizen!" Astro blurted out.

"Not like that!" Tenma called back.

"Gee, how do you even do it, Atom?"

"I dunno, i'm just always naturally happy, and i'm nice to people when i'm happy."

"So what, are you saying if I become happy I can be nice to people?"

"I guess." Atom shrugged.

"Why does it sound so weird?"

"Because I have you on speakerphone."

"Oh. haha."

"So, whatcha doing?"

"Nothing much." Atom shrugged.

"Oh really? You sure you're not reading a book?"

"Pfft, wha- are you stalking me?!"

"No, I just happen to know you really well."

"Pft, well you'll never guess what book i'm reading." Atom said as he hid his book behind him.

"Is it… The Givers?"

"DANG IT!"

Astro laughed.

"Haha, I must be stressing you out more."

"A-a little…" Atom twitched.

"Yeah, I just love stressing people out."

"Oh yeah, so about that dinner…"

"What? You never told me about a dinner?" Atom tilted his head.

"Oh yeah, I'm inviting you, Ken, Brianna, bitch one and bitch two, and also myself, we're going downtown for dinner."

"Oh, I'm not sure if I can go, Elefun and all…"

"Pfft, screw him! Just tell him you're going downtown, and if he picks a fight, just creep him out."

"Uhhh, I don't think I could do that."

"Haha, it's easy, you just gotta play around with your words and your voice, I do it all the time."

"Like for example…"

Astro cleared his throat.

"So uh, last night, right, I went to bed at like midnight, you don't need to know why but ummmmm, _something_ went down."

Atom blinked.

"And that my friend was perfection at it's finest."

"You didn't do what I _think_ you did?"

"Haha, of course I did, why wouldn't I?"

Atom blinked again.

"Haha, I'm kidding."

"Phew! almost had me worried there for a second."

"Why? were you considering to put me in some sorta mental hospital?"

"Well, maybe, but you seriously need help, it's not healthy to have such a, dare I say, _nasty_ brain you have."

"Pfft, what's such a big deal about being a little dirty kinded."

"A _little_, ha!"

Astro folded his arms and snorted.

"I'll show you."

"Sure you will, and then when you go visit Brianna, the jokes start up again."

"Meh."

"Meh to you too."

"So are you going or not?"

"After what you just said to me, I feel uncomfortable around you now."

"Dude, it's a yes or no question!"

"...Fine…"

"But I still don't think it's healthy to be a pervert."

Astro rolled his eyes.

A few hours later Astro knocked on the door to Ken's house and waited for someone to answer the door.

Ken answered the door a few moments later.

"Is everyone ready?" Astro asked.

"I dunno, ask miss slower than a snail diva over there."

"I AM NOT SLOW OKAY?! IT'S CALLED PUTTING MAKEUP ON, GEEZ!"

"H-how do you deal with her?"

AStro shrugged.

"UGH, I LOOK FAT!"

"Brianna, you're not fat…."

"YES I- Astro?"

Astro smiled at Brianna.

"POOKIE FACEEEEEE!" Brianna ran up to Astro after putting her makeup down. 

"You know, you shouldn't be putting makeup on."

"But-"

Astro stared at her.

"...Fine….."

"Are we ready?"

"I guess." Ken shrugged. 

"Well we have to go get my twin since he's going too, and we better be quick because we gotta get there before the girls do."

After an hour of talking and what not, everyone was situated downtown and enjoying dinner.

"So uh, how's it been?" Astro asked, looking at Kaitlyn.

"Good!" She smiled.

"Interesting…."

"And you?" Astro looked at Brianna.

"Eh." Brianna sighed.

Astro sighed back.

Brianna sighed back again.

The two of them kept sighing for a few moments.

"Eh, i'll be back in a sec." Astro said as he got up and walked to the bathroom.

"So uh… hello?" Brianna said awkwardly as she waved her hand.

Brianna looked over at Atom.

"So how's it going with you and Stephen?"

"Uh…" Atom paused.

"I-it's going okay."

"Yeah."

AStro came back a few minutes later.

"Phew!" Astro sat down.

"What took you so long?" Brianna asked.

"Oh you know _stuff_…" 

Atom facepalmed.

"So uh, anyone know what their gonna get?"

"Nope."

"Well this is kinda awkward..." Kaitlyn said looking around at everyone as they sat silently.

"Yeah, I noticed that, we don't really have much to talk about." Astro replied. 

"We're around each other too much."

"Pfft no, I haven't seen you guys since Summer!"

"Well there really isn't much to talk about anyway, except for school."

"Haha, speaking of Summer, how was your vacation?" Emily asked, looking at Astro and Brianna.

"Oooohhhhh _that_." They both looked at each other and giggled.

"I don't even wanna know…." Emily shook her head.

"Just like old times, eh?" Kaitlyn leaned back in her seat and sighed pleasantly.

"Pfft, things never do seem to change." 

"I hope they never do."

((THE END OF CHAPTER 3!))


	4. For the Bloody and the Bruised

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Four: For the Bloody and the Bruised.

Astro was staring at himself in the only mirror in the entire bathroom, he kept staring at the red that dripped down his arm.

He sighed.

He reached over for the baby wipes on the counter (near the sink), picked one up, and gently rubbed it up and down his arm to get rid of the red gushing down his arm.

When he thought he had gotten most of it off, he left the bathroom with one hand covering his arm and decided to watch a little TV in the living room to pass the time.

Astro looked around for the remote but gave up quickly and just decided to sit down on the couch and think.

He hoped no one would notice.

But it was just an accident.

He lifted up the hand that was on top of his arm and noticed it had become red too.

Astro looked around to see if anyone was there.

He noticed someone was walking in, so he sat normal and played it cool.

"You okay there?"

"Oh! I'm fine." Astro smiled.

"You sure?" Cindy slowly sat next to Astro.

"Yeah." Astro pressed a little harder on his arm.

She looked over at him.

"You aren't hiding anything are you?" She asked in a concerned tone.

Astro shook his head.

"I'm going to trust you that you aren't, ok Astro?"

Astro nodded.

She looked down at his hand as he fidgeted nervously.

Astro sighed and looked around the room.

Cindy looked away and picked up the TV remote.

"It was an accident." Astro muttered quietly.

She looked back over at him with a confused look.

"What was?"

"Nothing." Astro quickly responded.

"Tell me, Astro. What did you do?"

"Nothing."

Cindy looked back down at his arm. She took his hand and lifted it up, letting out a small gasp at the sight of blood.

"It was an accident."

"Go tell your father about this. Right now." She said sternly.

Astro sighed and slowly got up from the couch to make his way to Tenma.

"So much for slamming into the concrete."

"Hello Astro." Tenma said as Astro walked into the basement.

"Oh, hey." Astro replied after making it to the last step on the stairs.

"What brings you here?"

"Nothing, Mom just sent me here cuz, you know… she sent me here."

"What for?"

"An accident."

"An accident? What happened?"

"Well uh… to sum it all up, me and the concrete had a hit and run. And uh….. it was an accident… and uh.. yeah."

"Well lets see the damage so we can fix you up." Tenma got up and walked over to Astro.

Astro sighed.

"Well?"

Astro shrugged.

"Come on. Show me what's hurt."

Astro felt like sighing again, but instead just moved his hand out of the way to expose the blood on his arm.

"Oooooo. That's a pretty bad scrape. I'll do my best to make it as good as new." Tenma examined his arm.

"You know this isn't the first time this has happen…." Astro began.

"Some people are just clumsy. Or they're like you and they faint a lot out of nowhere." Tenma chuckled trying to lighten the mood as he walked over to get a towel.

Astro chuckled back.

He came back and started to wipe the red liquid off of Astro's arm.

Astro looked over at him.

He looked up.

Astro casually smiled.

Tenma smiled back.

"so uh…. how's it going?" Astro chuckled, trying to pick up a conversation.

"Good. And you?"

"Eh."

"Eh? Well then." He continued dabbing the wound.

"Well its not hell, but It's not paradise either…."

"You know, you should really be a poet. These phrases you come up with are so... Creative I guess you could call it."

"Ehhhhh, not really into poetry…"

"What _are_ you into? Seems like 'nothing' is your only answer these days."

"I have no idea…."

"Hmm. Well I'll be right back." Tenma walked over to a closet.

Astro stood there and looked around the basement.

He came back with some bandages.

Astro looked at Tenma.

"Really?" He began.

"What?"

"Mmmm... nothing."

"... Well this is only a temporary fix." He wrapped the bandage around Astro's arm.

"I know…"

Tenma tied the bandage.

"Well, you're free to go."

Astro left the basement and walked back into the living room.

"Is it all better now?" Cindy asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Astro shrugged.

At Elefun's house, Atom was sitting in the rocking chair that was next to the couch in the living room, a knock was heard at the door.

But Atom never noticed because he was fast asleep.

"Hmmm, I wonder if they're not home?" Emily asked, looking at Kaitlyn.

"I dunno." She shrugged.

A few moments later, the voice of Uran was heard and the front door was opened.

"Oh hey guys!" Uran greeted.

"Hey Uran. Thanks for letting us in." Kaitlyn ruffled her hair as she walked in.

"No problem, hey isn't Atom down here?" Uran looked behind her.

"He must have just fallen asleep." Uran rolled her eyes and moved out of the way to let Emily and Kaitlyn inside.

"Oh. Yeah. He did. He's fast asleep on the rocking chair." Kaitlyn giggled.

The TV (that was on earlier) was still on.

Kaitlyn sat down on the couch and looked at the TV that was playing a unidentified children's show.

"Do you think we should wake him up?" Uran asked.

Emily shrugged.

"No, just let him sleep in peace," Kaitlyn replied.

"Hey what show is this?" Emily asked, slowly sitting down next to Kaitlyn.

"I dunno, but whatever it is, it's really kiddish," Uran butted in.

Emily reached over for the remote to change the channel.

Kaitlyn let out a small sigh as she twirled one of her curls around her finger.

"Hmmm, there's nothing really interesting on TV." Emily said, putting the remote down and sighing.

The next day Astro was at school in the gym, everyone else was playing around and doing their normal thing while Astro was sitting on the indoor bleachers, watching the students run by.

He sighed.

He thought about yesterday and the lie he had spilled out to them.

Astro knew exactly what happened.

And he knew why he did it.

But of course, to ease the mind of his parents he simply replied with,

"It was an accident."

When in reality it was no accident at all.

He tripped,

On purpose.

Just to see himself bleed.

Suddenly for a moment Astro was tired, he decided to get up and maybe get a drink of water.

On his way down the steps and into the court, he noticed things were getting a little bit blurry.

He changed his mind about getting water and just decided to go sit back down.

"ASTRO!"

Everything was blurry, he saw giant bloobs come up to him and call his name.

"COACH!" the voice sounded like Ken.

"What is it?"

"ASTRO FAINTED!"

It wasn't long before Astro had woken up in the nurse's office for like the millionth time, considering how many times before this he had been there.

"W-wha? What?" Astro looked around.

"Oh. You're awake!" The nurse looked over at him.

"I think so, as long as this isn't a dream…." Astro sat up slowly but then quickly lied back down.

"Im pretty sure this isn't a dream." She smiled.

"Good. I think i've had enough with dreams for a while…"

"So what'd I do this time?"

"You fainted... Again."

"Ooo, that's a new one, haven't came down for that in a while!"

"Well I called your father, he should be here soon to pick you up."

"Ugh really, but I was having so much fun laughing at the retards running like mad men in Gym!"

"You aren't well enough to stay at school. You could faint again and get hurt."

"Pfft, you know me so well….I'm proud."

"How couldn't I. You're one of my more frequent patients."

"Hahaha, I come here every other day!"

"Yes you do. Was was the last time you came here for? A paper cut?"

"No, I threw up after drinking tea."

"And then the _last_ time before that, I think I almost fell down the stairs and the last _last_ time before that, I scraped my arm, good times, good times."

"The school should have you kids in full armor and cushioned hamster balls. I don't know how much longer I can take all this."

Astro laughed.

"But then how would we switch classes, or go home, not to mention the fact that hamster balls are _so_ not in fashion this season."

"I wasn't being serious, Astro."

"Well you sound serious now, then again, I think all adults sound serious when they say my name…"

She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Just rest until your father comes."

"Fine." Astro lied down on his side.

The nurse left, leaving Astro by himself in the small room.

Astro looked around the room for a little while before going back to sleep.

Thirty minutes had passed and Astro was staring at the ceiling and whistling an annoying tune.

"So… any idea on how long I have to wait?"

"What's taking him so long anyways, what is he, taking a poop and shaving, like geez, does it _really_ take that long to get from my house to here by car!"

The nurse rolled her eyes again before the phone rang.

She picked it up.

"The main office called. Your Dad is here. He'll be in in a few minutes." She said to Astro after putting the phone back down.

"Oh, finally, at least I know he didn't go poop."

Astro waited a few more minutes and whistled the same tune.

Someone walked into the hallway outside of the room.

"Hello. He's in the other room. You know the drill." She said to the person.

Tenma stuck his head into the room.

"One day! I'm gonna rule the world and make everyone have green hair and buy unicorns and ask my dad why it took him so long to long to get here, and maybe even ask him if he went poop today!" Astro was singing out loud.

"You're weird."

"Thank you, and if you pay me $5 you can pre-order my new album, i'm gonna call it 'Farting Unicorns' and it's coming out in 2 weeks, but if you act now u get a bonus farting unicorn drawing." Astro said as he got up.

"Come on, Crazy. Let's go get your stuff and go home."

"Fine...but you can still buy the album whenever you like, i'm giving a discount to family and friends."

"I'll have my order shipped to me 30 years from now."

"Ok, i'll make note of that, just make sure you tell me your address from 30 years from now."

"Probably the nearest mental hospital."

"Oh you mean like the place i'm going to any day now? Ok, i'll make mental note of that."

"Yup. We might even end up being roommates so there's no point in having to ask my address."

"Okay now that's going a _little _too far." Astro sounded a bit disturbed.

"Would you rather have to share a room with some twitchy old guy who keeps muttering about how the leprechauns are after him and his money?"

"Well i've seen worse….."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really, just go bother Elefun when he clearly tells you not to, and he'll show you crazy. Not mention everyone I know is crazy."

"True. True."

"Why is everyone crazy?"

"Not _everyone_."

"Yes _everyone_ trust me… I know…."

Tenma chuckled as they walked out of the nurse's office.

"You know i've always wondered why small farts smell worse than larger, louder farts?"

"Its all about the gas build up and the amount of methane that's produced."

"Woah there slow down, you know I can't understand big kid vocabulary, I can barely understand Kindergarten vocab."

Tenma sighed.

"Guess you'll never know then."

"I guess so." Astro chuckled.

"So what _did_ take you so long? Did you get stuck on the toilet or forget to put on pants or something?"

"Actually, I couldn't find a nice pair of pants. I can't just walk in here in my pajamas. Sweatpants aren't that nice either. And all my nice pants were dirty."

"Seriously? PANTS?!"

"Yes. Pants are important. Would you rather I had come here commando?"

"I don't wear pants."

"You're wearing pants right now..."

"Pfft, what? No, these are not pants, I wear these so much they are no longer pants, they are a part of me."

"I should start checking your laundry."

"No, you need to stop me from buying more clothes."

"I have way too many clothes."

"And of course I mean I don't wear the same _exact_ thing over and over again, but I do wear the same thing, except for bed cuz wearing jeans to bed is uncomfortable."

"Mmhmm."

"Well, I guess I better use this time and start practicing the songs on my album incase I perform and become famous."

"Think you can do it silently?"

"I LIKE SHOPPING AT THE SUPERMARKET, BECAUSE I LIKE THE SUPERMARKET, AND I LIKE EATING SOUP WHICH THEY HAVE AT THE SUPERMARKET!"

"And that's all I have so far."

"I'm starting to doubt that we're related."

"Same."

((END OF CHAPTER FOUR!))


	5. Generations

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Five: Generations.

"So uh, what was I saying?"

"Umm…"

"You know it's really hard to remember things now-a-days, just last week I forgot my name when the teacher was taking attendance and I didn't say here!"

"She be like."

"Astro?"

"Astro?"

"Astro you here?"

"And then there's dumbass me, sitting at my desk staring into the sky like all the sudden there's a shooting star I must stare at for no apparent reason!"

"Like, seriously?"

"I never knew the ceiling could be _so _exciting!"

"Speaking of 'so exciting' guess who's not 'so excited' right now?"

"This little bitch right here."

"You wanna know why?"

"Because within days, hell is going to be released from a women's vagina."

"Cough my mom cough"

"And i'm not ready for this, because i've already experienced hell twice."

"First with Uran, and then with Atom."

"Okay well maybe once because Atom isn't that bad."

"But I swear to you the changes that will occur will annoy me."

"It's like before I used to not give a shit and just be like."

"Fuck you all, I can do whatever the hell I want…cuz I don't give two shits"

"It's like before I didn't give a shit and now I have to give a shit and just….."

"It's hard…"

"It's going to be very stressful."

"Very, very stressful."

"I hope no one is eavesdropping on me recording because that last thing I need is for them to think i'm panicking."

"Them, meaning the other humans that live here, and panicking as in a slight reference to Panic! at the Disco."

"You are welcome."

"You know yesterday I was scrolling through Pictsagram and I passed by the GIF of me spinning in my chair like-"

"WHEEEEEEE!"

"I laughed so fricking hard, I threw my phone at the wall and just curled up into a ball, laughing so dang hard, I almost couldn't fucking breathe."

"I do it all the time."

"I wonder what would happen if I ate a taco."

"Would I fart?"

"Or would I not fart?"

"Or will I make other people fart instead?"

"I have no idea…."

"So uh, I hope your days going well."

"I woke up to a puddle of drool and um, cough cough, so that didn't go well…"

"And then yesterday my pencil broke when I was sketching out my manga."

"Even though I personally enjoy drawing digital."

"It's just better okay, i'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry…"

"I'm fucking sorry."

"HA! No i'm not!"

"Yesterday I got so sad when I went to the store and had to buy store brand crackers because they were all out of name brand."

"It-It was just- terrible!"

"And with that I end this uh- video!"

"Add, sub, all that uh, stuff you know?"

"I don't know any more okay, i'm sorry?!"

"BAND FAN, um…."

"Um…."

"Oh yeah."

"OUT!"

It was Spring break and Astro had just finished recording his vlog, turning his camera off, he left his room to go socialize with the humans in the house.

"Hello humans of this household, how's it going today?" Astro said as he walked down the hallway.

"No one? No one's he-okay i'm just gonna go watch TV then…" he made his way to the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Or maybe i'll take a nap."

"Farting unicorn is gonna take a nap so don't wake them!"

Astro got up and walked out into the kitchen slightly sluggish, still a little tired after waking up.

"Mmmm...crackers." He said as he opened a cabinet and pulled out a box of crackers.

He walked over to the table and sat down in a chair, opening the box he looked around so see if anyone was there.

"GAH! since when the hell have you _been_ here?!" Astro exclaimed.

"Hmmm. About 11:45."

"Well you almost scared the shit out of me."

"That would have been quite the sight." Tenma chuckled.

"Hmm I see. Cracker?"

"Why not?"

Astro handed a cracker to Tenma.

"This ones for free but imma have to charge you ten cents for every other one."

"Pft. I should be the one charging _you_. I buy all these crackers."

"Well I bought this one yesterday."

"Nice to see you're doing things for yourself for once."

"Pffttt, when did I ever _not_?"

"You really want me to name every time?"

"Sure, take a crack at it." Astro said before stuffing a cracker in his mouth.

"I would if I had 2 years to spare."

"_What?_ Can't be _that_ long?!"

Tenma shrugged.

"So uh, have any _plans_?"

"Not that I know of."

"Haha I always have plans, I make fake plans for myself so I can tell people i'm busy and make it sound convincing."

"so then what _are _ you gonna do?"

He shrugged again.

"That's awesome."

"Yup."

"Hmmmm I wonder what we're gonna do when sir-poops-a-lot comes to town…."

"Probably be very busy and sleep a lot."

"Really? That sounds like me everyday!"

"Oh. This will be different from that."

"Well duh, puh-leaze, I've lived with hyper Uran and four year old Atom, what the hell could be different?"

"Babies are worse than them both combined."

"Welp, it was nice knowin' ya! Hope you have money for my funeral!" Astro extended his hand out for a handshake.

"You think you're going to die?! Who do you think is going to be doing all the work?"

"The ghost that haunts this house."

Tenma facepalmed.

"I know, my stupidity must _really _irritate you."

"Well it would be one thing if it _wasn't on purpose._"

Astro chuckled.

"Its going to be like having _two _infants in the house." Tenma mumbled to himself.

"What do you mean?"

"You act like such a little kid sometimes." He smiled and ruffled Astros hair.

"No, that's Atom." Astro chuckled.

"No. You act like a kid sometimes too."

Astro tried not to blush.

"I-I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do."

Astro tried covering up his face and nodded.

His face went red.

Tenma laughed.

"Look at you. Being little Mr. Bashful."

"Gah! It-it, it's not funny!" Astro blushed deeper.

He reached over for a cracker from his box and stuffed it in his mouth.

"S-so then uh….. what _do_ you plan to do today?"

"Sit around. I guess."

"Cool."

"Yup."

"Speaking of being childish, I wonder what Atom is doing?"

"You really like bothering him, don't you?"

"What?! Can't a brother be concerned for another brother?!"

There was a moment of silence.

"...Yes….." Astro muttered.

"It just surprises me that he's so cool you know, like does he not see the douchebag in Elefun yet?"

"Elefun isn't a completely terrible person. And Atom sees the good in people."

"Pfftt, the good in people…. PFFFTTTTT!"

"Maybe you should give it a try. It'll make you a better person."

"Pft, better person…." Astro folded his arms.

"Well you must have seen something in me to come back. I'm pretty sure its not crackers..."

"If it was, would you kick me out?"

"No."

"Maybe?" Astro laughed.

"Hahaha, i'm just kidding, of course not."

"Good."

"Or was I _not_?"

"And besides I didn't _chose_ to come back, I just wanted to say bye and you offered me a place here."

"True. But you did accept. You could have declined and ran off to who knows where."

"You mean like in the park or back to the Underground City?"

"Wherever your heart would have taken you."

"Hmmm… I see…" Astro pretended to sound concerned.

A few hours later, Astro and Tenma were walking out the door and heading for the car.

"So uh, where we going again?" Astro asked.

"Just to go get some pizza for dinner."

"Mmmm Pizza, haven't had pizza in a while….."

"And, I know this may surprise you, but guess what my new craving is?"

"What?"

"Dessert!"

"Everyone craves dessert."

"But I mean like all _kinds _of desserts!"

"That is also normal."

"Oh so you're saying i'm _normal_?"

"For the most part."

Astro sighed.

They both got into the car.

Back at Elefun's house, Atom was walking out of the hallway with a book in his hand, he looked as if he was getting ready to leave somewhere.

"Hmmm.." Elefun, who was sitting on a stool by the counter, looked at Atom's book.

"Oh!" Atom seemed a little startled.

"I'm going to the park."

"Mmmhmm." Elefun nodded.

Atom smiled and made his way to the door.

"Ah!" Elefun stopped Atom before he could touch the doorknob.

"Get the umbrella, I heard there's a chance of rain today."

Atom nodded, he grabbed the umbrella and headed on his way out the door.

"So what flavor are we getting, cheese? I hope it's cheese because toppings scare the crap out of me, i'm not even kidding."

"Yes. Just cheese."

"Good, I hate toppings because they scare the shit out of me."

"I know."

AStro chuckled.

"You know me so well…"

"Wait a minute? Should I be scared then?"

"No."

"Oh ok, just making sure."

After ordering the pizza, the two decided to take a walk while waiting for it to be made.

"Hmm, is it me or does it look like it's gonna rain?" Astro asked, looking up at the sky.

"Hmm. Likely." Tenma also looked up.

"Hmm, we better hurry up then, i'm not getting these precious clothes of mine wet."

"Yes. Let's head back. Pizza should be done soon anyway."

"Okie dokie"

They both made their way back to the pizza place.

Atom sat down on a bench, setting the umbrella aside, he opened his book to the page he was on and looked up at the sky.

"It's a nice day to read outside, even though it looks like it's gonna rain soon, oh well…" Atom turned a page and kept reading.

Suddenly, a few minutes later after Tenma and Astro were getting closer to the pizza place, it started to pour.

"Ugh seriously?! You know I just bought this yesterday mother nature, FUCKING YESTERDAY?!"

"Come here." Tenma said as he took off his jacket and held it over him.

"Eh." Astro got closer to Tenma.

They walked quickly as Tenma tried his best to keep the rain off of them.

Atom opened the umbrella and hung it over him while he continued to read his book.

"Hmmm so nice out."

Atom turned the page.

"WHAT?! NUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Atom cringed.

"WHYYYYYYY?!"

Atom sighed.

"Books…."

Both Astro and Tenma finally made inside of the pizza place.

"Phew! We made it!" Astro exclaimed.

"My jacket didn't do so well." Tenma wrung water out of it.

"So, just buy a new one, you look rich."

"But I liked this one." He pouted.

"Then just buy the same one?!"

"Fine. Since you insist."

"Well that's what I do when my clothes get ruined, I just buy new ones."

"You buy so many clothes. I'm surprised you aren't broke."

"I am broke, but then I get more money and then I go back out shopping again."

"Well that explains even more."

"Uh huh, you're welcome." Astro beamed.

"Oh, sir. Your pizza's ready!" Called the cashier from the counter.

Tenma walked over and grabbed the pizza box, then went back over to Astro.

"Let's go out to the car now."

"Okie dokie!" Astro smiled.

Atom was still sitting on the bench reading while the rain poured down, the umbrella was still covering him and the book.

He heard a faint sound of a car passing in the distant.

Atom turned the page.

"Mmmm, can't wait to go home and eat this pizza!" Astro exclaimed.

"Same here."

The noise of a car passing got a little louder, still Atom ignored it and kept reading.

"Hey uh, slow down a little, doesn't that face look familiar?" Astro tilted his head.

"Is that Atom?" Tenma slowed the car down.

"Hmm…. kinda looks like it, should we do anything about it?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well he seems to be reading a book….but he shouldn't be out there when it's pouring."

"We should take him home then."

He pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"Whatever floats your boat." AStro shrugged.

Tenma rolled the window down.

Atom looked up from his book for a moment and caught a glimpse of a car that was pulled over, he quickly looked back down at his book.

"Atom!"

"AHH!" Atom exclaimed, waving his arms around, almost dropping the book and knocking the umbrella down.

"Wh-who said that?!"

He sounded scared.

"Atom. It's us. Tenma and Astro!"

"Oh hey guys, hows it going, I'm just reading this _really_ good novel, out here since I felt it was a great day to read outside!"

"But its pouring out there."

"Ahh, what's a little rain gonna do?"

There was a loud roar of thunder.

"Okay, maybe I should start heading home…" Atom closed his book.

"Need a ride?

"Hmmm… it's okay, I can just walk home, got my ol' trusty umbrella to uh- help me out here!" Atom chuckled.

"OK, but if you get electrocuted, don't blame me."

"Okie dokie!" Atom got up and grabbed the umbrella, he started on his way home.

Tenma and Astro looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well that was awkward." Astro began.

"I'd say."

"He turned down a free ride home. A _free_ ride home?!"

Tenma shrugged again.

"Well I can't force him into the car."

"True… but he's just way too strange for me…"

"I kinda relate to him, though."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

"Pffft, you wish."

"Pft. How would you know."

"Cause I know people better than people know people."

"I'm not going to argue with that."

Astro chuckled.

"But wait a minute… didn't _you_ force me into the car once?"

"That's because you are... You."

"So, what's the big deal?"

"Well Atom is more emotionally stable than you."

"So what are you saying if you left me I could've killed myself?"

"Maybe. I wasn't sure what your next move would be back then. I only wanted you to be safe."

"Sure….."

"You know I would never want anything to happen to you."

Astro sighed.

"I know…" He tried holding back his tears.

Tenma reached over and wrapped his arms around Astro.

"Let's try not to remember those times, OK? It was hard for both of us then."

"I-I know."

"Now let's go home and eat this pizza."

Astro nodded with a smile.

When the two of them got home, and finally sat down to eat, Astro didn't say a word at the dinner table.

The pain inside him was masked by his blank face and quiet self on the outside.

He looked at both Tenma and Cindy, and then back at his plate.

Astro tried not to sigh.

Tenma glanced over at him.

"Are you ok?"

Astro didn't respond.

"If something is bothering you, just say so."

Astro had finished his pizza, he got up and pushed his chair in, then he carried his plate to the sink and walked to the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him.

Astro turned to face the mirror and glance at his reflection.

He took a step back and covered his mouth with a hand as tears streamed down his face.

With so much pain, he just sat on the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest as he uncontrollably sobbed.

There was a knock at the door.

All Astro could do is sit as more tears streamed down his face.

"Just kill me please, I-I can't take this anymore... This world was not meant for me."

"Astro… please….." Tenma knocked again.

"Put me out of my misery..."

"Please don't do this, Astro."

"Just rid me clean, I deserve it."

"No. Astro. Just let me in. Please."

"I- I can't! I can't even get up from the ground!"

"Is… Is it something I did? I'm sorry if it is. Just please. Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"No, it's not your fault, it's mine."

"It's not your fault, Astro. It's never been."

"Of course it's my fault, it's always been my fault, always."

"No. It's mine. It's been mine since the beginning."

"Then I guess we both need to leave"

"That's not the solution, Astro."

Astro sighed and buried his head into his knees.

"...well it is for me..." AStro sniffed.

"No... No it's not." Tears began to stream down Tenma's cheeks.

Astro didn't know what to do, he just sat there and kept crying.

"I think I'd rather be my reflection."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Just come out please."

"I-I can't!"

"Is the door locked?"

"I hope not."

Tenma opened the door.

He walked in and sat next to Astro, putting his arms around him.

Astro continued to sob.

"I don't want to lose you… again."

"I-I know." Astro tried to say.

"There are a lot of people who love and care about you. You should tell them when you feel this way. And you shouldn't let these feelings and thoughts get the best of you. I know you're stronger than that."

Astro sighed.

"I _should _be, but i'm not."

"But why?"

Astro shrugged.

"I wish I knew…"

Tenma hugged him harder.

For a moment, there was silence.

Astro sighed again, breaking the silence.

"I wish there was something I could do to fix this." Tenma whispered.

Astro slowly forced a smile.

Tenma looked at him.

"I know it's fake. Please be real around me. No more of this 'fake happy' crap."

"Well it's hard to be real when everyone around you is fake."

"Who said I was fake?"

"I didn't say _you_."

"Then who?"

"Everyone else."

Tenma sighed.

"Why do you think everyone is fake?"

Astro shrugged.

"You have to have some kind of reason. It's impossible for something you think to be right if you don't have a valid opinion."

Astro shrugged again.

Tenma chuckled and covered his face with his hand.

"You're a handful."

Astro chuckled back.

"Promise me you will try to get better?"

Astro took a moment to think.

"I'll try."

"Good." Tenma hugged him again.

Astro chuckled.

Tenma stood up and held a hand out to help Astro.

Astro took Tenma's hand and got up from the ground.

(END OF CHAPTER FIVE!)


	6. The World Is Waiting

**The Tenmas**

**Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)**

_Chapter Six: The World is Waiting_

The day after the outburst Astro had during dinner, he was lying in bed, shivering as small tears streamed down his face in pain.

"S-so c-c-cold!" Astro said as his teeth chattered and he clutched onto his stomach.

He shivered again.

Tenma sat at the kitchen table and sighed as he stared into the cup of coffee in front of him.

Astro sluggishly got out of bed to go for breakfast.

He shivered as he walked out into the hallway dizzily.

Tenma got up when he heard a noise from outside the kitchen.

AStro tried to continue on his way out of the hallway.

"Astro?" Tenma looked down the hall.

"Huh? A-ah, mornin!" Astro shivered.

"Are you ok?" Tenma quickly walked up to him.

"I'm a little c-cold."

When he got up to Astro, he felt his forehead with the back of his hand.

"You're burning up."

"W-wha?" AStro sniffled.

"There's always something wrong with you, isn't there?"

AStro sluggishly shrugged.

"I-I don't u-usually get s-sick."

"Let's get you back in bed. I'll bring you some food." Tenma began to lead Astro to his room.

Astro nodded.

The two of them walked into Astro's dark room.

Astro sat down on his bed and shivered again.

"I'll go get you something to eat."

Astro nodded as he sluggishly looked for a blanket to put over his shoulders.

A few minutes later Tenma walked back in with a tray of food.

Astro was sitting on his bed shivering as he held a blanket over his shoulders.

"Wanna sit back so I can put this on your lap?"

Astro nodded.

Tenma placed the tray down on Astro's desk, walked over and fluffed up his pillow for him.

Later on in the day, Kaitlyn and Emily decided to go visit Atom again since they hadn't seen him since Winter Break.

Kaitlyn happily knocked on the door.

Atom opened the door a few moments later.

"Oh, hey guys!" Atom greeted with a smile.

"Hi!" The girls said.

Atom moved out of the way so they could walk inside the house.

"So how's it been?" Kaitlyn asked him.

"Eh same old, same old, except I have to call Stephen later and ask him about his cat..."

"That's cute." She chuckled.

Atom sighed.

"He called yesterday and said he had to go take her to the vet because she's not doing so well..."

"Oh. That's not so cute." Kaitlyn's smile faded.

"well I mean she is quite old..."

"Oh well." Atom shrugged.

"So what's new with you guys?"

"Nothing much."

"Hmmm, interesting." Atom walked into the hallway, making his way to his room. Kaitlyn and Emily followed him.

Atom opened the door to his room and walked over to his bed to sit down.

Kaitlyn walked over and sat next to him, Emily decided to just sit in Atom's office chair.

"So uh, how did the date go?" Atom asked, turning to Kaitlyn

"Date? You mean my date back in Winter Break?"

"Yeahhhhh, I'm a little slow when it comes to keeping up with people..."

"That's ok!" She giggled. "And it went pretty good."

"Aww really? That's ador- I mean awesome."

She blushed. "Yeah. It was. He's so nice! He even made me dinner and everything. And we watched the ball drop and the fireworks together."

Atom couldn't help but blush back.

"And he's a wonderful cook, too!"

Atom chuckled.

For a moment, Atom's smile faded away.

He sighed and looked over at Kaitlyn.

"And he-"

He suddenly put his arms around her with an uneasy look on his face.

"Huh?" She looked down at him.

"What's wrong?"

Atom shook his head. "Nothing, I just needed a reassurance that you are okay."

"I'm fine." She chuckled, hugging him back.

"I-I know. Just get a little scared sometimes."

"It's okay," She said softly. "We all get a little scared sometimes."

Atom sighed before quietly nodding his head.

"I-I'm glad you're okay…."

"And I'm glad that you're glad I'm okay."

Atom chuckled before closing his eyes and letting out a small yawn.

"Are you seriously getting sleepy?"

Atom sluggishly shrugged.

Kaitlyn sighed.

"You're just like a baby." She chuckled.

Atom opened an eye and looked up at her.

"What?" She smirked.

"Nothing." He giggled.

Kaitlyn heard a sniffle and looked over at Emily. "Are you… crying?"

"Wha- me? Nooooo, I never cry." Emily replied.

"Then why is your face all red?"

"I got a sunburn….."

"Suuuuure."

"Yup."

"Mmhmm."

Kaitlyn looked down at Atom, who had fallen asleep in her arms.

"Wow… Ok…."

Emily chuckled.

She moved his head over to his pillow.

Atom got comfortable.

"Aw isn't he adorable." Emily whispered as she walked up to Atom.

"Haha. Yeah."

"Hmm, maybe we should come back when he wakes up?"

"Sounds good to me."

The two of them got up and quietly walked out of Atom's room.

"He's kinda like a younger brother to us." Kaitlyn thought out loud as they walked down the hall.

Emily looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I always felt that Atom was like the little brother I never had. He's kinda like one to you, too. But nothing like _your_ brothers."

"Yeah let's not talk about _them_."

"Hahaha. Yeah."

Emily chuckled.

Kaitlyn opened the front door and they both walked out.

An hour later. AStro woke up from his nap, but surprisingly he was on the floor.

"Huh?" Astro tried making out where he was.

There was a knock at the door.

Astro was too weak to respond.

"Are you still sleeping? I made lunch for you, too. If you're not feeling well enough to come out, I'll bring it to you." Tenma said from the other side of the door.

"Wha?"

"Are you ok in there?" He opened the door.

Astro shrugged.

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Wha, I'm on the floor, da hell I get there?"

"I don't know. Here, let me help you up." Tenma walked in the room.

"I must've had one of those dreams again.." Astro sighed.

"I really need to see if I can do something about that." He lifted Astro back up onto the bed.

"Y-you can try…"

"Do you want lunch or no?"

"Sure, sure, i'll have lunch."

"I'll go get it. Try not to fall out of the bed again while I'm gone."

Astro nodded before coughing.

Tenma walked into the kitchen to see Cindy looking through the fridge.

"Hello dear," He walked up to her. "Why aren't you in bed? You know you should be resting."

"Umataro. You should know I am a free, able-bodied woman. So what if I'm full term?"

He facepalmed. "Honey…. Please….."

"I can do what I want." She pulled a few random things out of the refrigerator then walked out of the kitchen.

Tenma slowly shook his head as he grabbed the bowl of tomato soup he made from the microwave.

Emily and Kaitlyn came back to visit Atom after they assumed he woke up.

He was sitting on the couch and didn't seem too happy.

Kaitlyn walked in, not seeing how there was a reason to knock.

Atom sighed and changed the channel.

"Hey, bud. What's wrong?"

"Well, I called Stephen and asked about his cat…."

"And um….well…"

Atom sighed again.

"Oh…." Kaitlyn sat next to Atom.

"I just feel bad for him now because he has no one else…"

"Well he has you."

"Well yeah, I guess you could say that."

"If you're so concerned, you could always get him a kitten." Kaitlyn smiled.

Atom stared at Kaitlyn.

She stared back awkwardly.

Atom blinked.

"Um…."

Atom got up and walked to the kitchen to get a drink.

"I guess that was a no?"

Atom shook his head.

"You think it's a good idea?!"

Atom shrugged.

"Well what _do_ you think about it?"

"You think I should go visit him, or would that be too early?"

"Um. Well I'm sure he needs someone to comfort him."

"I guess i'll go later, I'm gonna watch a marathon and catch up on this show on Nextflix."

"Ok, then."

Atom closed the fridge, grabbed his cup and walked over to the couch where he sat down and looked for the TV remote.

"There's soda in the fridge if you want anything" Atom said, pointing to the fridge.

A few minutes had passed.

Atom looked over at Kaitlyn.

"You look really pretty today." Atom said before he picked up the TV remote again to scroll through the TV shows on Nextflix.

"OH! Thanks!" She smiled.

Atom smiled back.

"You know, yesterday I was out taking pictures at the park, and I happened to pass by these really lovely birds…."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I got a few shots out of them, i'll show you later."

"Ok. Can't wait!"

Atom looked over at Kaitlyn, then back at the TV and chuckled.

"Hmm?" She glanced over at him.

"Nothing." Atom shook his head.

"Oh. Ok."

"Gosh, they must have gotten rid of it or something, because it usually doesn't take me this long to find it."

"Your show?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

Atom sighed.

"Oh well." He said, turning off the TV.

Atom got up and walked away to his room to go look for his camera.

He came back a few minutes later with it in his hand.

"Well I found my camera." Atom said as he walked out of the hallway.

"Yay!"

Atom walked with it in his hands all the way to the couch.

He motioned Emily and Kaitlyn to sit next to him.

They moved over.

"See? I took these yesterday." Atom handed the camera to Kaitlyn as he spoke.

"Very good!" She said looking through the pictures.

"And those are the birds I was talking about, aren't they pretty?"

"Yeah!"

Atom kept looking over Kaitlyn's shoulder as she looked through more photos.

"I really like this one." She said pointing to one of the photos.

Atom smiled.

She smiled back.

Atom got up to put the camera back once Kaitlyn had handed it back to him.

Atom sat back down on the couch and casually looked around the room.

Kaitlyn looked over at him.

Atom looked back over at her and smiled before leaning in closer for a hug.

When he gave her the hug, he felt so much love and respect for her. It was almost like the beginning of a true friendship.

"I'm glad that you're glad that I'm glad that you're ok." Atom whispered.

She giggled and ruffled his hair.

Atom chuckled back.

There was a knock at the door.

A few moments later, someone barged into the house.

"Is Atom here?!" The voice did not sound pleased.

"Uh, y-yeah…" Atom looked over.

"Can you believe this?!" The voice got closer to the couch.

"What is it?" Kaitlyn looked over.

"Pookie Face is sick!"

"Good for him!"

"Bah! I tried calling him like five times! Finally on like the sixth try someone picked up the phone and it was Tenma to tell me he was sick!" The voice folded their arms.

"And you needed to tell me because?" Atom looked at the voice.

The person calmed down.

"Well uh….. I uh….. just wanted to uh, inform you guys." The person almost seemed crazy as they spoke.

"Yeah, that's all."

"Ok….?" Kaitlyn looked over at Emily.

"I'm just kinda bummed out because it's Spring Break and I had _all _these events planned." The person sighed and sat down on the couch.

"I'm sure you can do it all in the summer."

The person blinked with a blank face.

"What's with everyone staring at me today?"

The person continued to stare at her while shortly twitching in between.

"Everyone I know is nuts…."

"Oh no, it's fine, in fact it's _splendid_, I'll just wait until the Summer to get my shit done, because _clearly, _i'm outta options!"

Kaitlyn shrugged.

"Yeah, so if you'll excuse me, i'm just gonna go walk back home and 'wait till Summer' " The person walked out of the house extremely annoyed.

"K. You do that, Bri." Kaitlyn yelled to her as she walked out.

Brianna slammed the door really hard.

"Well then…..."

"What's up with _her_?" Emily questioned.

"I dunno. Maybe she's on her….. you know what..." Kaitlyn whispered.

"Aw don't say it." Atom butted in.

Kaitlyn and Emily chuckled.

"But she seemed really annoyed."

"Well yeah. That too. I probably made it worse. My sassiness is a blessing and curse."

"But wait.. Is it just me, or does it seem like Brianna is a _really _obsessive girlfriend?"

"It's not you. She is."

"I think she might need help…"

"Yeah..."

"Any ideas?"

"Nope. Maybe marriage will fix it, but that's gonna be a while."

Atom bursted out laughing.

Kaitlyn chuckled.

"_If_ they ever get married!" Atom added.

"Haha yeah. I bet you 20 bucks they will. Pay up on their wedding day. And I'll pay up when one of them dies."

"Hmmmmm… deal."

The next day when Astro walked out into the hallway, he was still slightly tired, but not cold like yesterday.

He sat at the table and put his head down.

A few minutes later, Tenma walked in and saw Astro.

"You feeling any better?" He asked him.

Astro shrugged.

"Well at least you feel good enough to come out of your room."

Astro nodded.

"Want anything to eat or drink?"

Astro only snored in response.

Tenma chuckled.

"I guess you'd rather sleep."

Astro was too tired to respond.

Tenma gave Astro a little pat on the back, grabbed something from the fridge, then walked out of the room.

Astro sniffled for a moment before switching his head position.

For a moment it seemed like Astro was crying, but instead he was asleep, with the tears only representing the terrible nightmares of his dreams.

He couldn't take it.

He grabbed onto the table and tried not to scream.

And with a sudden revolt, Astro fell out of the chair, hitting his head quite hard against the tile on the floor.

And it was then that Astro eased and slightly smiled.

But the loud thud had rung through the whole house like the largest bell had been set off and struck.

Tenma ran into the kitchen.

"Astro! Are you alright?!"

Astro was fast asleep on the ground.

He sighed as he lifted Astro up.

"Do I need to strap you down or something?"

Small tears had streamed down Astro's face.

Tenma quietly carried him to his room and set him down on the bed.

Astro clinged onto his sheets, almost scared completely.

"I seriously need to try and do something about this." Tenma whispered as he rubbed his face with his hand.

Astro sniffled with a look of worry on his face.

"Please don't look at me like that." He whimpered.

Astro slowly opened his eyes, but only to close them again and hide his tears.

Tenma looked down, the pain Astro looked to be in was too much for him to bear.

"It's too much for me." Astro said as he changed his position.

Tenma looked back over at him.

"I'm going to fix this problem. If I have to reboot your programming, I will. I can't stand to see you in pain anymore. You shouldn't have to deal with this." He walked up to the bed and kneeled besides it.

Astro turned around to face Tenma.

He was trying his best not to cry.

Astro smiled at him, trying his best to reassure his father.

Tenma sighed again.

"This isn't going to solve itself. I really should get working on it right now."

Astro nodded.

Tenma left the room and headed downstairs.

"I knew I shouldn't have put it off. What kind of father am I?" He whispered to himself.

Astro got up out of his bed and walked over to his desk.

He felt terrible for yet again, causing somewhat of a trouble, but he ignored it and just decided to turn on his laptop and draw his sorrows away.

Atom had gotten up to go to the bathroom and Emily was flipping through the channels on the Tv. Kaitlyn had zoned out.

Her daydream was interrupted by a buzz from her pocket.

"Ye?" She asked after answering her phone.

"Kaitlyn. I need you to go to the police station and get the Kenny papers back from Tawashi."

"Oh. Ok. But why the sudden request?"

"I'll explain it to you later. Please get them as soon as possible."

"Sure thing."

She put the phone down.

"Emi. We gotta go see ol' mustache again."

"What for?"

"I dunno. Tenma just wants me to get those Kenny papers back."

"Oh, well why don't we wait 'till Atom comes back so we can say goodbye?"

"Ok. But he better hurry up. Tenma seemed antsy."

A few moments later, Atom came back down the stairs.

"I think I'm gonna go see Stephen now..." He said.

"Oh. We're leaving anyway. You want a ride?" Kaitlyn asked him.

"Ummmm, I guess, lemme go get my jacket!" Atom walked away to his room.

Atom came back out from his room with his jacket and messenger bag.

"Ready to go?- Oh hey. Panic! At The Disco reference!" She held her hand up to Emily, waiting for a high five.

Emily gladly gave her a high five.

Atom chuckled before nodding.

They walked out of the house and got in Kaitlyn's car.

Soon they finally dropped Atom off at Stephen's and drove off to the police station.

They walked inside the doors and waved to the woman at the desk.

"He's not busy right now, you can go right in." She said to them.

"Thanks." Kaitlyn smiled.

The two girls strolled into Tawashi's office.

"It's been awhile." He said.

"Yeah. It has. Any serious crimes lately?"

"No. It's been pretty peaceful recently, except for the occasional burglary or j-walker."

"That's good."

"Now what do you need? I know you usually don't come just to say hi."

"Do you still have the documents we gave you from the Kenny investigation?"

"Yup. You need them?"

"Yeah. Tenma needs it for something."

"Hmm. Since the case is over, I'll let you take it."

"Awesome!"

"So how's old Kenny doing in the slammer?" Kaitlyn asked him as he looked through his filing cabinet.

"We're doing him good. I don't know about that straightjacket though. He's always complaining about it chaffing."

The girls chuckled.

"Here you are." He handed them a folder.

"Thanks!" They said as they left the office.

"Dang. It's like we're regular visitors there now." Kaitlyn said as she got into the car.

"Tell me about it, they should just let us work there or something."

"Yeah! I've always wanted to be a detective! And I'm sure once we're out of highschool, and maybe some college, he'll hire us if we need a job."

"Yas!"

Kaitlyn giggled as she drove off.

Astro continued to stare at his laptop, trying to figure out how he wanted to color his artwork.

He heard a knock at the door and someone answer it.

Astro seemed confused as to who would visit at a time like this, but he ignored it and kept trying to figure out how he was gonna color his artwork.

"Hey." Kaitlyn greeted Tenma.

"Blondie?" Astro turned around in his chair at the sound of her voice.

"Hello girls. Thanks for getting these for me."

"No problem." Emily smiled.

"Why do you want these anyway?" Kaitlyn asked.

"I'm trying to decorrupt Astro's systems."

"Wow. Finally!"

"I just need these to make sure I don't have to undo anything Kenny did."

"Makes sense." Emily looked at the papers in Tenma's hands.

"So you're trying to fix his corruption eh? Has he been being that much of a butthole lately?"

"No. It's not that. It's-"

"So he _is_ being a butthole?"

"No!... He's been in so much pain. It hurts me to even think about it."

"Oh…."

He sighed.

"Can you two keep a promise for me?"

Kaitlyn and Emily looked at each other then back at Tenma as they nodded.

"If this comes to the point where I have to restart his programming, he might lose all his memories and ability to perform regular functions. If it's really bad, it will be like he's almost dead. He would need to learn everything all over again.

"If that happens, will you two please promise to help? I don't know if me and Cindy will be able to do this alone."

"OF COURSE WE WOULD HELP! You don't even have to ask, silly! You know we'd be there for you no matter what. We are like family after all. And quoting from a famous movie" 'Ohana means family. And family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.' " Kaitlyn said with a big grin on her face.

Emily nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." He smiled.

Kaitlyn walked up to him and gave him a hug.

"I'm sure it'll all turn out alright." She whispered.

He sighed but hugged her back.

Not long after, Kaitlyn and Emily left to go to Emily's place.

Tenma walked to his and Cindy's room.

"Dear?" He looked in.

"Yes?" Cindy looked over at him.

"Think you can take care of yourself for a few hours?"

"Bill! I'm not a little kid!"

"I know." He sighed and walked over to her.

He put his arms around her.

"It'll be ok, honey." She said to him.

"I guess you heard, didn't you?"

"Yes…. I trust you."

He kissed her on the forehead before heading back down to the basement.

((End of Chapter 6))


	7. Heal The Heart

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Seven: Heal The Heart

Astro was lying in bed with his eyes closed and a hand on his chest, getting a feel for the tempo of his own heartbeat.

He blushed in between breaths.

It was nice to know he had something to comfort him at midnight.

He opened one of his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

It was a peaceful night even though the A/C was a little cold, hence the reason why Astro was snuggled under the covers, fetching for his own warmth.

He could feel the tempo speed up and then slow down.

He couldn't help but blush and let out a small giggle.

He closed his eyes again.

He stayed up the rest of the night relaxing until morning when he got out of bed and walked over to the table.

Astro seemed quite calm even though he didn't speak a word.

"You're being awfully quiet." Tenma looked over at him.

Astro smiled and nodded.

"Hmmm."

Astro sighed and bit his lip to try and stop from blushing.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah! Nothing...I just, ah- nothing." Astro quickly looked down.

"OK..." Tenma looked away with a slightly confused look on his face.

Astro forced a chuckle since he didn't know how to respond.

"So today or tomorrow I'm going to have you come down to the basement. I think I figured out a way."

"Hmmm... Interesting..."

"Let's hope it works."

"Do you think it would be weird If I said I felt nothing right now? Like I'm just fine?"

"No. Its not weird."

"Hmmm." Astro shrugged.

"I'm not sure if its a good or a bad thing that you're more confident about this than I am." Tenma looked back at Astro.

"Well I did just spend like a good 8 or 9 hours um... Doing stuff."

Tenma blinked. "Not really sure how that makes sense. But OK."

"Eeeeeeyeahhh." Astro looked around the room, tapping his fingers together.

"I just feel calmer than usual and it's kinda giving me the creeps..."

"Its not bad to be calm."

"Well when your not usually like this..."

"But I guess if you say so..."

"I think this is starting to get out of hand..." Astro mumbled to himself in a quiet voice, almost not being able to be heard.

"But I swear, I've had it under control for years..."

"_What's_ getting out of hand?"

Astro froze.

"Nothing, I'm doing fine, hey did you hear I have straight A's, how fun is that?" Astro said, trying to change the subject.

"Thats very good. But i feel like you're hiding something from me."

"Pffft, what? Me? _Noooo_, I'm _perfectly_ intact! Not hiding a thing!"

"Hmmm. Well I'm proud that you're getting good grades."

"Yup, that's all we need to focus on right now, good grades, good grades." Astro sounded nervous.

"Just focus on the good grades, nothing about hiding crap..."

"Suuure."

"Yup."

A little after lunch, Astro was in bed again, he felt uneasy and worried on the inside.

He was staring at the ceiling trying to ease himself.

He tried to hold back his potential tears.

He turned on his side and waited until it became too much for him and he got out of bed.

Astro sat in the corner of his room and wiped the tears off of his face.

He felt lonely for a moment and sighed.

He had no desire to do anything, not even to leave his room or get off of the ground.

He was quiet on the outside, but terrible on the inside.

He decided now would be a great time to just take a break and let the world go on without him.

So with a tug of his ear, Astro fell to the ground, and that was the final end.

Downstairs, Tenma was staring at a computer screen.

"Pull yourself together, Umataro. YOu know what you're doing. This is going to go by smoothly. No problems whatsoever." He whispered to himself.

"I just can't lose him… again…. And it'll be my fault… _again_…."

He sighed and tried pushing the thoughts away. "Focus, Tenma. Focus."

He heard a small thump upstairs. He turned around and walked up the stairs to investigate.

Opening the door to Astro's room, he saw him laying on the ground motionless and dull.

He sighed again and lifted Astro up, walking out of the room and downstairs.

Tenma set him down on the table in the middle of the room and turned him back on.

Astro slowly opened his eyes.

"Why?" Tenma quietly asked him.

Astro seemed puzzled for a moment, but then sighed and shrugged.

"Was it getting that bad?"

Astro didn't feel like crying again, so he just nodded his head and closed his eyes tightly.

Tenma took in a deep breath. "Are you ok with just doing it now?"

Astro was lost.

"Fixing you, I mean. We're already down here. And I would like to get it done and over with before I have an anxiety attack."

"O-oh…. sure, I guess…" Astro rubbed his eye.

"Ok. I'm going to have you sleep again. Can you do that?"

"I guess…"

"Just incase…. Is there anything you'd like to say before I start?"

"Well…. uh…."

"Uh….."

"I-I'm sorry for giving you a hard time and making you make me all that tomato soup and being an overall bitch like 60% of the time, but I'd really like to make it up to you, and I have crush on myself-wait, what?" Astro said quickly.

"What?" Tenma looked surprised.

"Uh… d-did I _just_ say that…. wow…. ok.. I meant to say something else, ummmm."

"I guess that explains some things..."

"Uh…." Astro sounded embarrassed and slightly ashamed.

"It's ok." Tenma smiled.

Astro tried not to blush.

"Alright. Are you ready?"

"M-Maybe…"

"I promise you'll be ok." Tenma put his hand on AStro's shoulder.

"I have a hard time trusting people, but I can force myself to have some faith…."

Tenma forced another smile. "Now just fall asleep and it'll all be over soon."

Astro nodded before letting a small yawn escape.

He put both his hands on his stomach and went off to sleep.

He started to dream but it suddenly stopped and everything went black.

After turning Astro back off, Tenma slowly walked over to the computer.

After countless hours passed, Tenma was finished and walked over to turn Astro back on.

"D-Dad?"

"Oh, thank god you're fine." Tenma let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

Astro seemed confused as to why he was there.

"Well, how do you feel?"

"W-what do you mean? Why am I here?! What did you do to me?!" Astro sat up and tried moving away without falling off the table.

"Astro?" Tenma looked confused.

"Did you change me? What did you change? Where is Dr. Elefun?! DID YOU HURT HIM?!"

"Astro. Calm down." Tenma tried to put his hand on Astros shoulder but he jumped off the table and onto the ground.

"Why aren't you in prison?" Astro said in a harsh tone as he made a defensive stance.

"What do you- Oh no. I didn't think..."

"Didn't think what?! Did you think you could get away with this?!"

Tenma slowly walked around the table.

"No! Get away from me! I thought you would change after prison. But I guess you didn't. You're still the monster you were years ago."

He got closer to Astro.

"No! Don't make me hurt you! I really don't want to! Don't make me!" Tears formed in Astro's eyes.

Tenma put his arms around Astro.

"Please remember." He whispered to him.

Astro took a moment to think even though he was still outraged.

Then suddenly it was like the memories had flooded in Astro's mind, and he felt sorry for yelling at Tenma.

"Dad?"

Tenma looked down at him.

"I'm sorry."

"Its OK." Tenma smiled as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Its not your fault. You just forgot what happened after the corruption, that's all."

"And i'm doing fine." Astro smiled.

Tenma's smile got even wider as he hugged Astro again.

This time, Astro hugged him back.

A ring came from the other side of the room.

"I'll go get that." Tenma walked over and picked up his phone.

Astro propped himself up on the table and waited.

"Yo Ten Man. Did u fix him yet?" Said Kaitlyn from the other side of the line.

"Yeah. I just finished."

"Did it go OK?"

"Yes! It worked perfectly. Astro's a lot better now."

"Awesome! You hear that Emi?"

A muffled "Nope, too busy." was heard.

"You poo." Kaitlyn said to her.

"Thank you, you're welcome." Emily nodded and continued doing whatever it was that she was doing before.

Tenma chuckled.

Astro sighed and stared at his shoes.

"OK. Well I was just checking up on ya. I'll see you later." Kaitlyn said before hanging up.

Tenma put his phone back down and walked over to Astro.

AStro looked over at Tenma passing by, but then looked back down at his shoes.

"You OK?" Tenma asked him.

"Yeah, i'm good."

"You can go back upstairs now if you want."

"Okie dokie." Astro got up from the table and walked out of the basement and up to his room.

Later on right before dinner, Astro was sitting on the floor in his room, scrolling through stuff on his phone and laughing.

There was a knock at his door.

Astro looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Time to eat." Tenma said after opening the door.

"Oh, okay…" Astro got up from the ground and put his phone in his pocket.

The two of them walked out of the hallway and to the table for dinner.

"So what's for dinner anyways?" Astro asked.

"The usual."

"Hmmm…. intresting."

They walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Astro pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it aside.

"So how are you feeling, sweetie?" Cindy asked AStro.

"Um… quite fine actually."

"That's good." She smiled and ruffled his hair.

Astro smiled back.

Later on when it was night, Astro crawled back in bed to get ready to go to sleep.

He sat up and took a moment to think.

It was getting close to 10 at night.

Astro decided now would be an OK time for him to go to bed.

When an idea passed over him, he stared at the ceiling for a moment.

For a moment, he felt embarrassed and slightly ashamed.

He let the feelings pass him by as he slowly moved his hand.

Astro was lied in bed with his eyes closed and a hand on his chest, getting a feel for the tempo of his own heartbeat again.

He couldn't help but blush.

There was a knock at the door, someone walked in.

Astro opened his eyes and looked slightly nervous at them as they walked in.

"Um. Goodnight." Tenma said.

"Night." Astro turned to his side.

He walked out and closed the door behind him.

Astro stared at the ceiling with a red face.

But he sighed and eased himself.

He got a hold of the tempo again.

Astro blushed again before closing his eyes for a final time.

And so then Astro giggled to himself a final time and whispered something inaudible before calling it a night, and going to sleep.

(END OF CHAPTER 7!)


	8. Atom's Problem

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Eight: Atom's Problem

"Okay, okay, one- one more!" Astro laughed.

He made a silly face in the mirror before completely losing it and had a huge laughing fest.

He walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later with a normal face, almost making it unknown that he was laughing so much just a few minutes earlier.

"Can you even believe school is back in like two days, they should really make Spring Break two weeks because one week just doesn't cut it!" He ranted as he walked closer to the table.

"Well you don't want more school time in the summer, do you?" Tenma looked up at him.

"No."

"Then I think one week of Spring Break should be enough."

Astro sighed and sat down in a chair.

"But I still wish it was longer." He folded his arms and pouted.

"How'd you make out last night, by the way?"

"Uh….." Astro froze.

"I did fine."

"No weird dreams? No nightmares?"

"Nope, surprisingly…"

"That's good." Tenma smiled. "At least I know _that_ worked right."

Astro nodded.

"I can no longer make silly faces in the mirror." He began.

"What do you mean?"

"I com- I com- I completely lose it!" Astro tried saying as he bursted out laughing.

Tenma chuckled.

"I need help…."

"No you don't. You're happy. That's a good thing."

Astro nodded.

"So you know what's for breakfast?"

"What would you like?"

"I dunno, haven't eaten since yesterday, I forgot what we have…."

"Do you want waffles?"

"Hmmmm…. maybe….."

"Eggs and bacon?"

"Hmmmm…. maybe….."

"Cereal?"

"Hmmmm…. maybe….."

"A muffin?"

"Hmmmm…. _maybe_….."

"You could always make yourself something."

"Hmmmm…. maybe…..maybe I don't want to cause i'm lazy..."

"You could not eat at all."

"Hmmm yeah, that's an option…"

"Or what if I have _everything_."

"You could. But I can't guarantee you'll be able to keep it all down."

"Hmm…. true…."

"How about I just have a cracker?"

"Whatever floats your boat."

Astro chuckled.

Astro opened his mouth to say something else.

"No. I'm not buying you a boat." Tenma interrupted before he could say anything.

Astro, with slight disappointment, closed his mouth.

"So uh…. how's life?" Astro asked.

"Interesting... And you?"

"Hmmmm… calm, funny, funny, calm…"

"That's good."

"So any plans for today?"

"No."

"You never seem to have plans…"

Tenma shrugged.

Astro shrugged back.

Atom was sitting in bed, not really appearing to be normal.

He sighed.

He was the happiest person ever, and now he was questioning why he was even happy in the first place.

He wasn't in pain, no tears were streaming down his face, it was like he was sad, but too happy to show it.

He just smiled and laughed,

Being sad was hard for him, harder than being nice and harder than keeping up with everyone and everything.

Sometimes it made him wonder how this came to be.

He tried asking the professor but he pulled the "i'm too busy" card on him, so Atom just left the room and happily walked down the stairs and back to his room.

Sometime he felt so happy it scared him.

Maybe today just….. wasn't his day.

But there really wasn't anyone else he could explain this to, this, sudden bolt of joy that constantly consumed him.

Not that Atom minded being happy, but it did concern him as to why he was happy, and nothing else.

For a moment he began to worry and became slightly scared.

The next day, Astro walked out to the table again and sat down, he seemed a little tired and annoyed, as if he had stayed up the whole night talking to someone.

"I think there's something wrong with Atom." Astro said as he sat down, slightly worried and concerned.

"Did something happen?" Tenma asked him.

"Well he called like twice yesterday and he didn't sound like you know, _Atom_."

"How, exactly?"

"Well, he didn't exactly sound too happy, like he did but he didn't….like it didn't seem _genuine_, or something of the sort."

"Hmmm. Do you think there's something troubling him?"

"I dunno, if anything I could argue he sounded scared, that Elefun must be driving him nuts or something."

"Or maybe this is just his time…."

Astro sighed.

"Well I guess there's really nothing we can do at this point, it was destined for him….."

"He's not going crazy and he's not going to die."

"And how do you know, i'll have you know that I know the signs….."

"I just know."

"Pfft, sure you do, citizen."

Tenma rolled his eyes.

"Do you think we should be concerned?"

"No."

Astro shrugged.

Later on in the day, Uran walked out the door, shutting it behind her, she casually walked the sidewalk until she got closer to Tenma's house and quickened her pace.

She knocked on the door.

Astro got up from the table and walked over to open the door.

"Yes." He looked down at Uran.

Uran didn't look too happy, almost like she carried sadness on her back and it finally settled in.

"Ummm…. I need to tell you guys something, Elefun sent me."

"Oh! uh, okay…."

Uran followed Astro downstairs to the basement.

"Citizen!" AStro greeted.

"Elefun."

"Well Uran, but Elefun sent her, she said she wanted to tell us something." Astro said as he walked down the steps with Uran next to him.

"Why is it so dark?" Uran asked as she took a hold of Astro's hand.

"I dunno, Citizen is crazy, so this isn't unexpected." Astro shrugged.

When they made it to the bottom of the steps, all there was was a bright arc of light in the middle of the room and what seemed to be a strange mask.

"See, I told you he was crazy…." Astro whispered.

The mask looked over at them.

Uran squealed and jumped back.

The light stopped.

"Astro. Turn the light on, please."

"Pffft, fine, even though I'd much rather prefer the dark, whatever you say…." Astro said as he walked over to a light switch.

Tenma swung up the welding hood he had on and put down his torch.

"Oh. Hello Uran." He smiled.

"Ello!" Uran waved.

"Elefun sent her here." Astro began.

"Oh. And why is that?"

"Well She said she had something to tell us." Astro looked over at his sister.

"It's about Atom…" Uran began.

"What about Atom? Is he ok?" Tenma stood up and walked over to Astro and Uran.

"Well he's not doing so well, Elefun had to send him off to the robot hospital because he's too busy and doesn't really know how to fix it. And he didn't wanna bother you because he knows you're busy or, and I repeat, a 'chicken' " Uran made a chicken motion with her arms.

"And yes, he really did do that…."

"So he just sent me over here to tell you guys if you wanted to visit him or whatnot, i'd go myself, but I can't drive, or even fly for that matter…."

Tenma facepalmed. "That man…. He thinks he had the right to call _me _a chicken. _He's_ the one that sent him off to the hospital and didn't even try to fix the problem..."

"Well I'm sure he means it in the best way, like maybe he means you're not a daredevil or risk taker or um…. not a wimp, but not macho man?"

"I know you mean well, Uran. But Elefun usually doesn't."

Tenma sighed. "Looks like I'm going to have to go and clean up another one of his messes."

"Well it's not his fault, you never heard about the thing?"

"What thing?"

"Well according to Elefun, Atom is more susceptible to getting sick."

"That's true, but it can't be that impossible that even he couldn't do something about it."

"I dunno, i'm just a messenger, not the celebrity magazine reporter."

Tenma looked confused for a moment.

"Well, let's go see Atom." He took the hood off.

"Oooo , can I come? Not to be rude…."

"Of course. I wouldn't just leave you here."

"Well I could just walk back home…."

"If you want to come, you can."

"Fine, i'll go."

"Pfft, I told you Elefun was up to something." Astro said, looking at Tenma.

"He didn't do anything bad. But he didn't do _anything_. Thats the problem."

"Exactly."

They all walked in to see Atom in bed, casually reading a novel.

Atom looked up and saw the three of them.

"Oh hey guys." Atom said in a sick voice before coughing.

"How are you doing?" Tenma asked as he walked up to the bed.

"Kinda…...okay." Atom coughed again.

He turned a page in his book.

"So uh….. what are you guys doing here? You just came by to visit me?"

"Well, I'd also like to get you out of here. You really don't need to be."

"Well you can try and… see, not sure what they will say."

"And I kinda like it here, first time in months where I can read in….. peace."

"If you'd rather stay then you can. I'm sure the people here know how to make you better."

"Well if you wanna take me, be my guest, not gonna force you, i'm not that desperate like… _some_ people."

"Hey!" Astro folded his arms.

"Gosh, it's been really cold all day today, haven't you guys noticed how cold it was?" Atom closed his book and looked at the three of them.

"Maybe you're worse than I thought…. It might be best to get you back to my place." Tenma said.

"I guess." Atom shrugged.

"You know this morning they tried to take my blood and I almost had a panic attack but they said I could read my book so I didn't notice a thing because I was too busy obsessing over my OTP."

Tenma cleared his throat. "Well-"

Suddenly the door bust open and Kaitlyn came charging in with Emily behind her, being dragged by her wrist.

Atom coughed and then looked as shocked as everyone else in the room.

"ATOM! ARE YOU OK?!" Kaitlyn let go of Emily and ran up to the bed.

"Ummm… I think so? Oh and you might wanna take a step back 'cause i'm contagious"

"OH MY GOSH! THANK GOD YOU'RE OK!"

"Umm… yeah, that's great."

"Can someone just explain to me why the frick _she's_ here?" Astro asked in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"Well, Mr. Sassy-pants. Let me tell you why." Kaitlyn turned around and put her hands on her hips.

"Go ahead, I love a great crap ass story." He chuckled to himself.

"Well..."

**FLASHBACK**

_Earlier that day, Emily was sitting on her bed and typing a story on her laptop. She stopped when she heard her phone buzzing next to her._

"_EMI. OPEN YOUR DOOR" said a message send from Kait._

_She sighed and sluggishly got off her bed then walked downstairs._

She opened the door.

_Kaitlyn grabbed her shoulders and starting shaking her._

"_EMI! ATOM! HE'S… HE'S….."_

"_He's…. what…?" _

"_He's sick and in the hospital!" Kaitlyn stopped shaking Emily._

"_Oh. Well why don't we go visit him then?"_

"_GREAT IDEA EMI! YOU'RE A GENIUS!"_

"_Haha. Why thank y-" _

_Kaitlyn pulled Emily by her wrist outside to her car._

"And that's why I…. and Emily…. are here."

"Wow that was the _best_ story I ever heard, you should make it into a movie and maybe you'll win a Poscar…."

"This isn't time for sarcasm Astro….." Kaitlyn pouted.

"Of course it is, it's always time for sarcasm."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"So how are you feeling?" She turned back around to face Atom.

Atom couldn't respond because he was at it with another coughing fest.

"I'm guessing 'not so good'."

"Well you know this…. morning they were going to take my blood and I almost….. had a panic attack….. but they said I could read my book so I didn't notice a thing because I was too busy obsessing over my OTP." Atom finally replied.

"Ooooo. Who's your OTP?" She kneeled next to the bed and rested her head on her hand.

"Ummm, Moon and Star, because i'm reading this book about humanized versions of things up in space and they're like preparing for this big battle to go down, and I think I ship it more than I should…." ((BTW guys, I made the whole thing up, so it's not a real book ~Emily))

"Oh! That book sounds interesting! I'd totally read it."

Atom tried to chuckle.

"Who's your OTP?" He whispered to her.

Kaitlyn glanced over at Tenma.

"Tenma and Cindy." She leaned over and whispered in Atom's ear.

Atom lightly blushed as he looked at Tenma.

He had overheard and his face was a bright red.

Tenma cleared his throat. "Well, we need to get going and talk to a nurse to try and get Atom out of here."

Atom nodded.

"Oh why does he need to-"

Kaitlyn turned her head over to look at Tenma and tried not to laugh.

"You're face..."

"Whu-What about my face?"

Atom casually picked up his novel again and continued reading.

"You're face is all red." She chuckled.

"W-What! No it is not!" He blushed even harder.

"HA! You're like a beet your face is so red."

"Stop it." He folded his arms and pouted.

Kaitlyn broke out laughing.

Eventually Astro and Tenma left to go find a nurse and the rest stayed and talked with Atom.

Atom turned a page, he blushed.

"Ugh, I can't! The feels!" Atom put his book down.

Kaitlyn and Emily giggled.

"Well, maybe, gah!" He picked the book back up again and continued reading.

"Haha. What's going on in the book?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing is happening."

"Yeah it's nothing, just the OTP in action, nothing wrong with that, i'll survive."

Tenma and Astro came back into the room a few minutes later.

Atom was still in bed reading, but he was getting slightly tired

"So what did they say?" Uran asked Tenma.

"They discharged him."

"Huh?" Atom looked up with slightly sleepy eyes.

"Pack your bags! You're going back with Tenma!" Kaitlyn grinned.

"Oh, wait-what?" Atom put his book down.

"Tenma got you discharged!"

"Oh, so i'm going back home now?"

"Well. Not to your home. I still have to fix your cold there." Tenma said.

"Oh yeah, forgot, haha."

"So uh….. when are we leaving?"

"As soon as you're ready to go."

"Okie dokie" Atom yawned and stretched.

Soon later everyone was ready to leave and Atom decided just to sit in the back seat of Tenma's car and take a nap.

"See ya later!" Emily and Kaitlyn called to Tenma, Uran, and Astro as they walked to Kaitlyn's car.

"Bye!" They waved back and got into the car.

Atom snored.

Uran happily sat in the middle between sleeping Atom, and Astro who was scrolling through his phone and laughing.

"What are you even laughing about?" Uran asked Astro.

"Notin." Astro replied.

Atom snored even louder.

"You see, I'm laughing at Atoms snoring, right, citizen?"

"Yup." Tenma replied.

"Pfffft, sure." Uran folded her arms.

Astro ignored her and kept scrolling through his phone.

Later, the four of them got home to Tenma's house.

Everyone except Atom got out of the car.

"Atom?" Tenma opened the car door.

Atom only snored.

"Come on Atom. Wake up. Its time to get out of the car." Tenma shook him gently.

"Huh?" Atom said as he slowly opened his eyes.

"It's time to go in."

"Oh, okay." Atom tried to yawn but it was cut off by his coughing that lasted till he got out of the car, he cleared his throat and dragged his messenger bag behind him inside the house.

He saw Astro and Uran sitting at the table.

"Oh I... Forgot. I have a gift for you." Atom said to Astro.

"Oh really?"

"Yup." Atom took a book out of his bag and handed it to Astro.

_**Speak equally: A Guide on How to Speak to Homosexuals**_

"Seriously?" Astro looked at Atom.

"Seriously." Atom smiled.

"Can you believe this, citizen, Atom got me a book on how to talk to homosexuals, since when did I _not_ address them correctly?" Astro said as Tenma walked in.

"Oh you'd be surprised." Atom added.

"He has a point." Tenma said.

"What?! I'm a nice person..." Astro folded his arms.

"You're nice but you still have a few things to work on."

"Pffft."

Atom sat down at the table.

"So... When are we doing the... thing?" Atom asked.

"As soon as you feel comfortable about doing it." Tenma leaned against the counter.

"Okie dokie." Atom pulled his book out of his bag and continued reading it.

"Better get a head start." Atom said to Astro as he turned a page.

Astro stuck his tongue out at Atom and then opened the book.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Tenma left the room.

Atom nodded.

"I still can't believe you got me this-"

"Don't mention it." Atom cut Astro off.

A few minutes had gone by, Uran seemed bored staring at Atom and Astro reading a book.

Tenma came back in the room.

Atom had another coughing fit again.

"Maybe we should fix you up now." Tenma said after walking over to Atom and lightly patting his back.

Atom nodded.

Tenma helped him up and led him downstairs.

After half an hour passed, Astro put his book down on the table.

"So what are you gonna do with Atom?" Uran asked.

"I dunno, we might keep him here or we'll send him off to Elefun's, whichever way gives us less stress..."

"Do you think we should go down and see him?"

"Naw, just leave him, he's ok."

Astro got up and walked over to the fridge, pulling a drink out.

Tenma walked back into the room.

"So, everything average?" Astro asked, sitting back down at the table.

Tenma took in a deep breath.

"He... He didn't make it..."

"Huh? What do you mean he didn't make it?"

"He didn't survive the procedure."

"Well, I hope Cindy has enough money for your funeral because Elefun is gonna whoop your sorry butt..."

"I'm only joking. He's fine. I put him in the guest room to sleep."

"Oh how lovely..." Astro said sarcastically.

"You have a terrible sense of humor."

"Thank you, thank you." Astro nodded his head.

"I still don't get why he got me this- oh wait." Astro facepalmed.

"It literally took me an hour to finally figure out _he's_ a homosexual and that's why he bought the book me for me..."

Tenma blinked at Astro then walked away to the fridge.

"Too Far?"

"Yup."

Astro just shook his head and ignored Tenma.

"So what are you gonna do when Atom wakes up?" Uran asked Tenma.

"Probably take him back home."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Astro asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it would sound weird if Elefun just sent Atom to the hospital and then he suddenly comes back the same day healthy, not to mention _you_ will be bringing him back."

"And what do you expect me to do? Keep him here forever?"

"No, not forever, but not less than a minute."

"Do you have any ideas of what I could do? "

"Ummmm, nothing?"

"That's not an option."

"Hide him in the house?"

"That's not an option either."

"Well then I give up."

"I suppose I could just call him."

"What do you mean?"

"I could call Elefun and explain to him why I have Atom. It's better than having to see him in person, I guess."

"True, but I'd have some earplugs in hand if I was you."

"I think I'll survive without them." Tenma pulled out his cellphone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Well if you go deaf after that, don't come crying to me..."

He pulled the phone away from his ear as muffled yelling shot out from it.

"Told you."

"Elefun….. ELEFUN!"

"You're the one that said I could visit him. That's pretty much an open invitation for me to fix him for you."

"Yes….. No….. What is _that_ supposed to mean? Is that some kind of insult in another language?... No?..."

"I'll have him back home in an hour. Don't bother driving yourself nuts and make an appearance. I'll handle it… No… I'm not going to trash your house. But thanks for the idea."

He put the phone down and sighed.

"So I can tell it didn't go so well..."

"At least I know he still hates me. Its always nice to have a reminder."

"True..."

"I'll go wake up Atom. And Uran, be ready to leave in 15 minutes." Tenma walked out of the room again.

"Okie dokie!" Uran smiled.

Tenma walked away to the guest room to go wake up Atom.

Atom was sleeping in bed, snoring and taking in much of the bedsheets.

"Atom." Tenma whispered as he lightly shook his shoulder.

Atom slowly opened his eyes again.

"You're going to go back home in a few minutes so try to wake yourself up." Tenma smiled.

"Oh okay."

Atom thought for a moment.

"Hey, Uh, I have um... Something to ask you..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I tried asking Elefun the same thing, but he told me he was busy, so I thought I'd ask you since you know a lot about science, right?"

"Yeah. I know a lot about it."

"Well, I've been kinda wondering why I've been so happy lately, not that I _don't_ want to be happy or don't _like_ it, it just kinda bothers me as to why I'm always happy and nothing else..."

"Maybe you're around a lot of things that make you happy. Or you're just naturally in a good mood."

"Hmm... I guess...but like even when I'm sad, I'm still sorta happy, it's like all these other emotions just come and go, they don't really seem to make a presence."

"It could be- no. I highly doubt it..."

"Doubt, what?"

"Maybe it has something to do with your programming."

"Well, what do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. If it doesn't feel right to you, then something might be off. Or changed."

"Hmmmm, I can try asking the professor if he doesn't tell me he's busy again..."

"I could always check it for you... If it concerns you that much."

Atom sighed.

"I dunno, I think you've done enough to get on Elefun's bad side already..."

"OK. If you say so."

Atom shrugged.

Soon everyone got back in the car and drove off to Elefun's house.

After Uran and Atom got dropped off, Atom walked into Elefun's office.

"Nah! Too busy..."

Atom sighed and walked out of the room.

"He's _always_ busy." He muttered.

He walked outside and sat down on the porch.

He felt like crying but he couldn't find any tears to cry with.

Atom hiccuped.

All he could do was smile.

Maybe he shouldn't had turned down Tenma's opportunity.

But he knew Elefun would have never approved.

Atom felt a little shy and decided to just go back inside to his room, and finish his book.

(END OF CHAPTER 8!)

(**Author's note:** Hey guys! This is Kait! Me and Emi try really hard to make these stories really good but unfortunately we don't get much feedback. We would really appreciate to know what we need to different or keep doing to make the stories the best they can. So, if you'd please, tell us your honest opinion on our stories in a review. Tell us everything you can ouo. Even if you're too shy to say anything, a favorite will still do! Thanks for taking some time out of your day to read our stuff! :3)


	9. Love Me Like You Do

_**(NOTE: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXCESSIVE CURSING AND MINOR SEXUAL REFERENCES SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT STUFF THEN KINDLY WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER TO BE POSTED)**_

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Nine: Love Me Like You Do.

"You know, i'm still a little worried about Atom." Astro said, sitting on the couch next to Tenma.

"I am too."

"You think something might be up with him?"

"I don't know."

"Well he seemed a _little_ uneasy yesterday."

"Hmmmm."

"I"m telling you, if we don't act now, it's gonna get worse and turn into a bigger problem we can't deal with, and know because I'm a living, breathing, walking, talking example!"

"I know. I know."

"Well then, you've been warned, he's your responsibility because Elefun is an asshole and won't do shit to save his life."

"Yes. I know. But it'll have to wait for now."

"Mmmmhmmm…" Astro changed the channel.

"And yet again we meet the terrible fate of there being nothing interesting on TV."

"It happens all too often."

"Yes, yes it does."

"I think i'm done with watching TV for the rest of my life." Astro put the TV remote down and left the living room.

Tenma turned the TV off and picked up a book. ((THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE KIDS. STOP WATCHING THAT LIFE SUCKING TV AND READ A FLIPPING BOOK DANG IT ~,Kate)) ((OMFG i'm dying xD ~Emily))

Astro and Brianna were walking the sidewalk on their way downtown, Astro began to speak with fast, sudden hand motions that flew across the air.

"So bitch you're gonna tell me, you're gonna _tell me_ you're not satisfied, bitch please, last time i checked you was writing me love letters up the ying yang, not satisfied, pfffft, not satisfied my timbuktu sorry ass!"

Brianna couldn't help but laugh.

"And no, no, this is just the beginning, there's a whole lot more shit after this!"

"There's like gallons in a tank fearing for it's life out there!"

"Don't you ever like step out the door and just feel the judgement of the world hit you already, like you just _know_ it's already judging you….."

"sometimes." Brianna chuckled.

"Pfft, you sure about that?"

"Uhh… yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno, but I like pie and that's all that matters."

"You told me yesterday you _hated_ pie."

"Well you know, things change Brianna, people grow up and become criminals, or some become dumbasses serving me food at McDonald'z."

"In the end they're all stupid, nothing you can do to change that." Astro shrugged.

"Touche."

"TOUCHE MOTHA-"

"Sssshhhh, what are you gonna do, wake up the whole neighborhood?"

"Brianna, it's only 6."

"Well still, you should be courteous to the people that live here."

"Pffft, to the people that live here."

Brianna thought for a moment before speaking.

"So did you hear about the new couple?"

"New couple, hmmmm….. unless you're talking about my engagement to my crackers, I haven't heard of a 'new couple'"

Brianna rolled her eyes.

"You _honestly _ don't know…."

"Hmmm, nope, not a clue."

Brianna facepalmed.

"Kaitlyn and that red head."

"Oooooohhhhhh, you mean blondie and her rebound to get over Reno the pervert, oh I see…."

"I dunno though, he seems a little old fashioned."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he dresses a little _too_ fancy, always says 'miss' or 'sir' and he actually _opens_ doors for people!"

"What, dang it, that sonofabitch stealing my moves!"

Brianna bursted out laughing.

"_You_ a gentleman?"

"Well I may not be perfect but atleast i'm not yelling at you or beating the crap out of you, gotta give me some credit."

"It just seems so strange seeing her with that guy, mind you Reno was a red head, and then if this guy dumps her, who's she gonna go with next, Bozo the clown dressed up like Tom Hiddleston?!" ((*le gasp* don't bring my baby into this ~kate))

"Haha, nope, i'm sure after him she'll just give up and marry herself, wouldn't be surprised."

"Anything else you know about him?"

"Well I wouldn't date him, that's for sure."

"Well duh, you're taken!"

"Well yeah, but even if I wasn't I still wouldn't date him, gentlemen are just not my type, I like people that are kinda classy, and not so classy, like you."

Astro burped.

"Exactly."

"Ooo, I wonder if they're gonna go to the park, we should go and call them out for PDA for no apparent reason."

"And then get your ass beat?"

"Pffft, trust me, I'm the professional, I know how to do these sorta things, we'll be gone before she can even catch a glimpse of us."

"How we gonna call them out though?"

"We'll just wait till they're sitting on a bench or something, and we'll take this water and pour it on them, and by the time they notice, we run and alert the whole park of their inappropriate doings in public."

Brianna laughed.

"Oh well it looks like we have a teenage couple making out on the bench over there, looks like he's sliding his hand down her bra strap, think there's a few little youngsters watching too!"

"Oh their parents must be _ashamed_."

"Letting them do the dirty deed at the park, what kinda parents are they?!"

"Maybe it runs in the family!"

Astro and Brianna continued to laugh super hard as they got closer to the park.

"It's such a perfect day to go out to the park, don't you think, Miss Kaitlyn?"

"Yeah. It is." Kaitlyn looked around.

Brandon and Kaitlyn were walking around the park, fighting the usual crowd of kids that always came there.

Brandon slowly reached over for Kaitlyn's hand, but before he got close, he changed his mind and retracted his hand.

Kaitlyn took a quick glance at him then looked down at her feet as she walked.

The two walked in silence for a moment.

They swore they heard a familiar noise in the distance, but shrugged it off and continued walking.

"Ah! so that's the dude?" Astro asked.

"Yup."

"Oh yeah, he's totes fancy, looks like Kaitlyn got herself a sugar daddy, good luck keeping up with that."

"sssh! sssh! I think they're coming closer."

"Oh yeah."

The two of them hid in the bushes.

"Do you... feel that?" Kaitlyn asked Brandon.

"Feel what?"

"I'm not sure. Kind of feels like someone's watching me... I'm sure its nothing, though."

"That might be so."

"Gee and he talks fancy too, whoo man, even more to help fuel my prank." Astro whispered in a really quiet tone to Brianna.

"They must have great se-"

"Don't go there." Astro interrupted her.

"Do you.. Um... Wanna take a break and sit on that bench over there?" Kaitlyn looked over at Brandon as he pointed to a bench along the path.

"Yes." Astro thought.

"Sure, all this walking is wearing me out a little."

She chuckled a little and strolled over to the bench.

"Ok you ready for this?" Astro asked.

"Umm, maybe?"

"Now we have to be quick, you got me?"

"Uh huh."

The both of them crawled away from the bush and in the opposite direction of where Kaitlyn and Brandon were sitting.

"Wait, aren't they _that_ way?"

"Yeah, but we can't let them see us, so we have to go the back way."

"Oh I see…."

"So. How has your Spring Break been?" Kaitlyn smiled.

"Very good, very good." Brandon nodded.

"That's good."

Brandon smiled at her.

"Ok, now we just gotta wait till the perfect moment, water?"

Brianna handed him her water bottle.

Kaitlyn blushed and looked down at her lap as she swung her feet under the bench.

Brandon reached for Kaitlyn's hand again, but yet again, he gave up and retracted his hand.

"Now?" Brianna asked.

"Nope, not yet, we gotta wait till it gets a bit more steamy."

"But then we'll be here for ages!"

"Well you _did_ say they must have great se-"

"I said nothing."

"Hmmmm…. alright…"

"So uh, how has your Spring Break been, Miss?"

"It's been alright. A tad boring."

"Hmmm….. interesting."

"I guess you could say so." She shrugged.

Brandon shrugged back.

"_Now_?"

"No! We gotta wait, it's not steamy enough."

Brianna folded her arms.

"Well at least until they hold hands, that'll be the signal."

Brianna nodded.

"So. Uh..." Kaitlyn began a sentence but got lost and didn't know how to end it.

"It's been a while since i've been to the park, haven't really done much with it, have they?"

"Not really. It's the same old park. But I hope it never changes."

"Same here."

"Gosh, he's boring me to death, talk about something interesting will ya! Maybe like.. I dunno, why the fuck your hair looks like a mop or like that embarrassing moment you accidentally walked into Victoria'z Secret and kinda enjoyed it!"

Brandon yet again tried but sighed and retracted his hand back.

Kaitlyn heard him sigh and looked over at him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes yes, i'm fine." He scooted a little further from Kaitlyn.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Yes yes, i'm sure."

She looked into his eyes for a moment then looked away and at some nearby flowers.

"Those are pretty flowers."

"Yeah. They're nice."

Astro slowed his breathing down, getting prepared for the fastest run he's taken in a while.

"Um..." Kaitlyn fiddled with her hand in her lap.

"Yes?"

"I hope you don't mind me asking but... Do... Do you like me? Like... as more than just _friends_?"

Brandon froze.

"Well um…" He began.

"_Maybe…_"

"Hmmmmm." Kaitlyn thought for a second.

"Now?"

"Sure, but not _just _yet, but we can slowly inch our way up there now to make it in time."

"I know we don't really talk much. I don't mind. That's what I like about some relationships... You can just be around someone to tell if they care enough to at least stay your friend... Silence can be good." Kaitlyn said as she slowly looked back over at Brandon.

Brandon nodded.

She nodded back.

"Okay, stop stop, we're getting too close."

"And now we wait." Astro looked over at Brianna who had a red face and covered her mouth.

Astro chuckled.

"So uh, have any plans for tomorrow?" Brandon asked.

"Mmm. No. I don't think so. Do you?"

"Well besides taking my morning jog and reading, I don't think so…."

"Wait for it…."

"Do you... Maybe wanna come here again tomorrow?"

"Almost…."

"Ah! why yes, that would be nice."

Kaitlyn grinned.

Brandon reached over for Kaitlyn's hand and almost retracted it back again.

"Give it a few, I'm gonna let one of them speak, adds to the surprise."

Kaitlyn took hold of Brandon's hand.

Brandon blushed.

She blushed back.

"NOW!"

"Huh?" Kaitlyn looked behind her.

Astro got down on the ground, making himself unseen.

"What was that?"

"I dunno I-"

Suddenly the two of them became soaked with water as Astro and Brianna fled the scene, yelling out at the other people walking by.

Kaitlyn sat on the bench speechless and trying to process what just happened.

"W-what was that?" Brandon sounded a tad bit scared.

a "YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOING PDA AT THE PARK!" was heard in the distant.

"I think I know..."

"YOU HEAR THAT, ITS THOSE TWO WEIRDOS OVER THERE MAKING OUT IN FRONT OF LITTLE CHILDREN, SO SCANDALOUS!"

"And we need to get out of here. _NOW_."

"Yes!" Brandon got up from the bench.

Kaitlyn got up after him and they both quickly fled the park.

They got a few dirty looks from people as they left the park.

Astro and Brianna couldn't help but laugh super hard as they left the park and went over to get ice cream.

"Hahaha, you should've seen the look on her face, it was so priceless!" Astro laughed.

"But you know she's gonna kill you right?"

"Pfft, may I remind you, me robot, she blonde dumbass human, there's a difference….."

"I'm sure it's gonna be a _while_ till they go to the park again."

"Hahaha yeah, we just turned them into mega sluts."

"You think we should apologize?"

"Pfft, nah, she deserves this for all those times she's been a bitch, it's more of a life lesson to not fuck with people like me."

"And besides, that dude she's with, ha! He's rich, boring, well now that I think about it, no wonder he's bored, the kid could ask for whatever the fuck he wants and it comes in gold with his name engraved on it! I'd be bored too after a while…"

"How long do you think they're gonna last?"

"Hmmm…. i'd say… until she's pregnant."

"You're really pushing the limit, aren't you?"

"No, i'm just having high hopes I see her one day on 17 and Pregnant."

Brianna bursted out laughing.

"Hahah, _that_ shouldn't be hard."

"Oh no, we got a badass blonde chick over here dating the rich dude from private school, what's next? Barney marries Dora?!"

"No no, Vanilla mixes with Chocolate."

"Oooooh, now _that's_ a story…."

Astro opened the door for Brianna and let her in.

"Thank you very much Pookie Face!"

"You're _so _not welcome." Astro smiled.

"Well at least it was only water." Brandon said as Kaitlyn continued to drive away from the park.

She sighed.

"I know... But..."

"Who was that, anyways?"

"The _famous Astro Boy_." She said in a mocking tone.

"Oh really? Never knew he was much of a prankster?"

"He's more of a jerk than anything."

"Ahhh I see, well, fame can get to you…."

"Well, lucky him, he's gonna be grounded for life.

"What do you mean?"

"I know his father."

"Aw, well isn't that neat?"

"Real fucking neato- whoops I'm sorry for cursing. I'm just really in a bad mood." She sighed again.

Brandon smiled.

"So uh, what flavor you gonna get?"

"I dunno, maybe we split one?"

"Sure."

Astro walked up to the cashier and ordered the ice cream, he walked back with it in his hands.

"You know I just realized."

"Hmm- wha?"

"What if Kaitlyn tells Tenma?"

"Hmmmm, yeah, you take this while I go outside and kill myself."

"Is he really that bad?"

"Well no, never really gotten on his bad side before, I could only imagine."

"Well it can't be worse than Elefun or my mom, that's for sure."

"Yeah, you have a point."

"Nevermind, i'm gonna suck it up like a robot man and take the consequences, even if they are harsh or unbelievably stupid!"

"Yeah!" Brianna cheered.

An hour later, Astro dropped Brianna off at Ken's house and opened the door to his own house, waiting for any certain doom.

Tenma stood in the living room facing the door and tapping his foot.

"I know, I know, i'm an asshole, don't need to remind me."

"Astro... I know you tend to be a troublemaker, but this crossed the line. I had no idea you had it in you to do something like this! Especially to Kaitlyn. You should know better. And who knows how many other people you've pranked like this!" Tenma walked up to Astro with his arms crossed.

Astro sighed.

"And don't think you're going to get out of this easily."

Astro sighed again.

"You're grounded for two months. No electronics, no socializing. And you're going to do every chore in this house for the next month."

Astro looked up at Tenma with a blank face.

"And for all of July and August, you will do any favors Kaitlyn asks of you."

"Woah? Really? Sweet!" Kaitlyn said from the couch with a towel over her shoulders. "I mean.. Um.. That is a reasonable punishment..."

"Pffft." Astro folded his arms.

"I hope you realize what you've done wrong."

Astro nodded and casually walked back to his room where he closed the door and tried to contain his laughter.

"I'm very sorry for what he's done, Kaitlyn and... Sorry I do not recall catching your name..." Tenma turned to the couch.

"Brandon." Brandon said.

"Well, it was very nice meeting you, young man." Tenma walked up to him and held his hand out for a handshake.

Brandon took his hand and firmly shook it.

Astro couldn't help but sit in the corner of his room laughing as hard as he could wiping tears from his eyes.

Tenma walked into Astro's room a few minutes later to see Astro still laughing in the corner.

"I can't believe you're still laughing! Well I can believe it, but I don't approve."

"Because you just-" Astro couldn't speak.

"YOU JUST PULLED AN ELEFUN ON ME OK?!"

"An Elefun?"

"Yes an Elefun, oh you must not know…. oh I must explain to you then…."

"Well to save you time and boredom, i'd like to say this isn't my first time gettin in trouble."

"But it's your first time getting in trouble with me for a very long time."

"I know, I know, but I swear you spoke the same words Elefun spoke, so i'm calling it an 'Elefun' for now on, and you just pulled an 'Elefun' on me."

"But this is different. You did something seriously wrong."

"Doesn't matter, you- you're not any different."

"And besides, now I have more free time to do the things I love….."

"Have it as you will. But I am _very_ disappointed in you." Tenma slammed the door shut after walking out.

"Fine by me, I didn't come here to be liked." Astro chuckled.

"Ah! Ok I need to stop, this is hurting my stomach."

"But he just- he just- SHIT!"

Astro got up and left his room to go use the bathroom.

He came back a few minutes later.

"So this is how life was years ago."

"I actually like it." He walked over to his bed before zoning out and fell asleep.

The next day (Sunday), Astro walked out of his room and went to go sit where he usually did every day, at the table.

"Morning Citizen!" Astro greeted.

"Good morning." Tenma replied in a monotone voice.

"Is it just me, or does it look _really _ugly outside, like is a storm I don't know about supposed to be coming?"

He shrugged and turned the page of the newspaper he was reading.

Astro shrugged back and quietly burped.

"I had a dream I turned into a Dinosaur and it was epic. I was an awesome Dinosaur"

"Good for you." Tenma said in the same dry tone.

"Yup, I wonder if today i'll become a dragon, or maybe a little miniature version of me, ah TINY ME! I need to draw that, oh my gosh!"

"I wish you the best of luck."

"And to you too, my fellow relative!"

"Mmmhmm."

"Are you sick? Because if you're sick I'm going back to my room Because I don't wanna catch anything." Astro scooted his chair back a little.

"I'm not sick. Even if I were, you can't catch human viruses."

"Oh." Astro scooted his chair back in.

"So then how _is _your morning going, everything going average?"

"My morning is fine."

"How lovely." Astro brightly smiled.

"You know what's for breakfast?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"You can make it for yourself."

"Hmmmm….. well then.I'm a terrible cook, but if you insist." Astro got up from his chair to make breakfast.

He came back a few minutes later with a plate of practically nothing and sat back down at the table.

"Interesting plate of air you've got there."

"Yup, I worked so hard, this is like the best I can make, I'm actually proud of it!"

"Good for you."

"And to you too, my fellow relative!"

"But wait I wonder if we actually _are_ related, like legally, or am I still somewhat related to Elefun?"

"You were never _related_ to him."

"Well I had to be at some point, since once in history he was my crappy caregiver?"

"That doesn't make you related. He was your guardian. Being related to someone is different."

"But I mean _legally_."

"Yes. Legally."

"Hmmmm….. interesting…."

"Oh wait, I forgot a fork." Astro got up to go get himself a fork.

"Hello." Astro said as he sat back down with a fork in his hand.

"I have a fork."

"Congradulations."

"Yes, I feel so proud, thank you." Astro wiped fake tears of joy from his eyes.

Tenma continued looking through his newspaper.

"Hmmmm….. I think I made too much." Astro said, looking down at his plate.

"How ironic."

"Well i'm on a diet ok, I need to watch what I eat, you know, maybe I won't eat breakfast then…."

"Do whatever you want."

"You seem _really _interested."

"Yup."

"Hmmm… I wonder, what's the difference between poop and diarrhea?"

Tenma rolled his eyes.

"What? I really don't know!"

He sighed.

"Oh _I _see, I'm in a good mood and then you're upset, and then _I'm_ upset, and you're like frolicking in the fields picking flowers!"

"I'm not upset."

"Hmmmm, _well then_."

"Oh, and school starts back tomorrow, just to remind you."

"Good luck with your walk there."

"Wait? You're not driving me?"

"It's not likely."

"Hmmm, well then I better get up earlier…."

Astro finally grabbed his fork and took a bite of his food.

"Bleh! This taste nasty!"

"Ok remind me to _never_ become a cook for the _rest_ of my life."

"Yup."

"You want it? Because I think i'm done."

"No. I'm good."

"You _sure_?"

"Yes."

"So what do I do with it then?"

"Just throw it out."

"Okie dokie." Astro threw it away and sat back down at the table.

He sighed and put his head down.

Tenma looked up at him.

"I-" Astro was about to speak, but changed his mind.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

He sighed, then nodded.

Tenma got up and kneeled next to Astro.

"Are you sure nothings troubling you? You can tell me."

"I-I'm-no- I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

Astro sighed.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"I'm fine."

Tenma sighed.

"If you say so." He got up and sat back down.

"I'm a bitch." Astro muttered quietly to himself.

He got up and left to his room.

He closed the door behind him, sat down on his bed, and sighed.

"I'm a hazard to everyone." He muttered.

"_I'm_ crazy, _I _ did this. I-I did this."

"GOSH DARN IT!" Astro raised his voice.

Astro sighed, trying to pull himself together.

"N-no, I can't do this! I-I, Can't do this! I. Can't. Keep. Being. A. Hazard. To. Everyone."

He put his head in his hands.

"I-I can't do this!" Tears streamed down his face.

He scooted back and brought his knees up to his chest, then put his head down.

He stayed like that for a few hours in the silence as he sniffled and continued to somewhat quietly sob.

It was lunchtime.

Astro didn't feel like leaving his room.

Tenma knocked on the door.

Astro didn't respond, he just hid himself away in his room.

"Are you going to come out to get lunch?" Tenma called from the other side of the door.

AStro shook his head, he didn't feel like harming anyone else anymore.

Maybe if he stayed there he wouldn't harm anyone?

"Astro?"

"I-I can't keep hurting people anymore." He muttered to himself for the millionth time.

"I-I've hurt everyone, and I shouldn't have."

Tenma sighed.

"I can't be here, I'll just hurt more people and make an ass out of myself!"

"I can't go out there, I was never ready for this or for anything, I wasn't ready to handle life."

"So no I am _not_ going out there, I don't wanna hurt anyone anymore or make myself look more like an asshole then I already am, because I'm not ready for this, and I probably never will be." Astro crawled into bed and pulled the sheets over his head.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Tenma sighed again and walked away.

"I'm not always going to be there for him. I _can't _always be there for him… He's going to have to figure this out on his own. I gave him the ability to and he has to use it." He quietly said to himself as he walked down the hall.

Astro just decided to keep to himself the rest of the day, only came out once for his shower, and another to use the bathroom.

He was fine sitting alone, organizing the many thoughts in his head.

He stopped for a moment and looked at his door.

It was getting late.

Even the next day at school was worse, he didn't say a word to anyone, even when he walked on the way home.

"Oh come on Astro, somethings up?" Brianna would ask.

Astro didn't respond.

"Come on, I'll walk home with you."

The two of them walked home together, when they got there, Brianna knocked on the door.

"Hello Brianna." Tenma said when he opened the door.

Astro just walked inside.

"Uh, you might wanna check up on Astro, he's been acting all strange today, wouldn't even talk to living soul!"

"I've noticed it too. And I've been keeping an eye on him. Don't worry."

"Oh, good, just as long as he's not going deaf or some sort of crazy, I think he'll be fine."

"Yes, he'll be fine."

"Well, I better get going, just walked him home to be on the safe side."

"Of course. Thank you for doing so."

"No problem."

Tenma closed the door after waving goodbye to Brianna and walked down the hallway to Astro's room.

Astro was quietly sitting at his desk doing homework, punching a few numbers into his calculator.

Tenma stood in the doorway and knocked on the wall to get Astro's attention.

Astro turned around for a moment and resumed his homework.

"Astro… If you ever want to talk, I'm always here."

"I can't talk to people like you…. I'll only dig you a hole and throw you in it." Astro muttered, looking over at a few other papers scattered across his desk.

"Don't say things like that. They're not true." There was obvious concern in Tenma's voice.

Astro shook his head.

"I'll only hurt you and I know for a fact that you won't like it."

Tenma walked up to the desk.

"You've only slipped up a few times. That doesn't mean you're going to hurt people with every word you say."

Astro didn't even look at Tenma, but there was a sense of fear in Astro's face.

"You only hurt me because you did something I thought you would never want to or have the heart to do. I know you're better than that. But this doesn't make you some kind of monster." Tenma placed a hand on Astro's shoulder.

Astro wrote a number down.

"Here, think of me like this triangle, you need one long side, and two shorter sides to make a triangle, if you don't have two shorter sides, or you're missing a longer side, it's not a triangle."

"You have the adjacent and opposite lines, and you have the hypotenuse which is opposite the 90° angle in a right triangle."

((Wow i love how Astro is so smart he's able to compare his problems to triangles, like thats some skill right there. ~Emily))

"Now think of me as a triangle with one short line, and two giant lines, I'm talking running off the page lines."

"Can you make a triangle with two long lines and a short line? No. Will you _ever_ be able to construct a triangle with two long and one short line? No."

"So think of me, my problems, my bad attitude, my depression as the two long lines, and everything else is the short line that's stupider than a bag of potatoes, because they ain't smart to realize that if they were long enough, they could someday reach the other lines, and make the triangle!"

"So because I am not a triangle and I'm just a bunch of lines, I will forever be a hazard whether I say or do anything, or just sit in my room and stare at the ceiling."

Tenma blinked and thought for a moment.

"Well, you _can_ make a triangle with two long lines and one short one. Acute isosceles."

Astro facepalmed.

He ignored Tenma and just went back to doing his homework.

"Nevermind." He muttered.

"But I know how you feel."

Astro kept working and didn't say a word.

Tenma looked away for a moment before looking back down at Astro.

"We all do something we regret. Even if we don't regret it, we may still feel guilty. It may haunt us forever or it might blow over in a few days. Either way we can't just sit around and sulk and feel like were the worse person in the universe. Everyone makes mistakes but you can't let that affect you for the rest of your life. Someday you're just going to have to stand up to the fact that you've messed up and show it proudly. Yeah, I did that once, but I made up for it."

Astro wrote another number down.

He still had a hint of fear in his face, slowly making him appear uneasy.

Tenma moved over a little to give Astro some room.

"You OK?" He asked.

He sighed and couldn't even hold his pencil correctly.

"...Mostly…"

"Hmmm."

His hand began to shake.

Tenma moved in closer and put both his hands on Astro's shoulders.

"Hey now. Calm down. Everything's OK."

Astro let out a sigh, he set his homework aside.

"Y-You're right, I _really_ need to stop."

He took a deep breath and couldn't help but sob just a little.

He wiped the tears from his eyes with his hand that wasn't shaking.

Tenma slowly rubbed Astro's back.

The look of uneasiness on his face seemed to go away.

Astro felt an urge to turn around, but he ignored it.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh the other day." Tenma broke the silence.

"It's ok, we all lose it sometimes."

"I will lessen your punishment. I'm not taking it away completely, but I will make it fairer for the both of us."

Astro nodded with his eyes closed.

He turned around and put his arms around Tenma.

He held him tightly.

Astro let go and slowly turned back around to face his desk.

He sighed.

"So many things to do, so little time." He said, reaching for his pencil and homework again.

"I'll leave you be to do your work." Tenma backed up a little.

"Okie dokie." Astro chuckled.

He left the room and closed the door.

Astro sighed and stared at the ceiling as he tapped a finger on his desk.

"Hmm." He shrugged and went back to doing his work.

A few hours later, Astro came back out of his room for dinner.

He sat down at the table.

"So uh, you know what's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti. It's almost done." Tenma said as he stirred the pasta in a pot over the stove.

"Haha, Spaghetti." Astro laughed.

"What's so funny about it?"

"Well nothing really, just the word spaghetti. Like... how you say it."

"Spa-ghetti." Tenma tried saying in a funny voice.

"No, you gotta say it with an Italian accent..."

"Ah. The-a Spagehetti is-a fine-a tonight-a." He did in a fake Italian Accent.

Astro bursted out laughing.

Tenma chuckled.

Astro gasped for air.

"O-oh- I-I c-c can't feel m-m my stomach!" He tried to say.

"Calm down. Don't want you passing out."

Astro soon relaxed.

"Phew! That was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time!" He said, wiping a few tears in his eyes.

"Haha. Glad you found it funny."

Astro chuckled again.

Tenma turned off the stove and placed a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of Astro.

"Oooo, quite the meal..." He said.

"Hmmm... I need a fork."

"Oh. Yes. Sorry, I forgot."

"Wow ok, at least I knew who I got my memory loss from..."

Tenma chuckled as he handed him a fork.

"Yes! Now with my trusty fork, I shall conquer the world and consume it whole!"

"Well at least this spaghetti world..."

"Haha. Ok. Don't hurt yourself."

"Pffft, puh-leaze, how's a fork gonna- oh." Astro looked at his arm.

"Well it was nice knowing you Citizen, I'd like to thank Citizen, food, crackers, bands, hot topics, my mom, my stepmom, the world, the toilet, the academy, poop, and uh... More poop, and uh... Yeah, just poop."

"I'll be sure to put that all on your gravestone."

"Yes, please do..."

"Now just eat your food."

"Fine." Astro sat back down and ate his food.

"Spaghetti." Astro mumbled in a fake Italian accent.

Tenma chuckled as he got himself a plate of food and sat down in front of Astro.

"Do you know what nine plus ten is?"

"Twenty-one."

"Seriously? It's nineteen!"

"You mean you never saw that Vines?"

"I did, and it's annoying, everyone at school is yelling out twenty-one and its really getting on my nerves."

"Well, i'll just say nineteen for now on then."

"Pffft, I swear to you everyone in that school is an idiot."

"I bet you a million dollars without me the school would be the worst this state has to offer!" Astro folded his arms.

"I'm sure there are other smart students there."

"Yeah, Brianna, and that's it, everyone else is stupid, trust me..."

"I doubt that _everyone_ is stupid."

"Hmmm... Then you haven't visited it yet..."

"Well I have been there quite a few times..."

"True... But one time this kid asked me why I was like the only one in my grade without acne, I literally stared at them until they finally understood and left, and that's just the beginning. I think I need to engrave 'I AM A ROBOT' on my forehead for now on..."

"It can't be that bad..."

"Oh, you'd be surprised..."

"Oh really..."

"Yes, really."

"I guess I have no choice but to believe you."

Astro chuckled.

"Hmmm, this isn't actually too bad, better than what I tried to make yesterday..."

"Well it takes some time to learn."

"Then I must have a lot to learn..."

"Yes.. you do."

"I just can't believe I failed at something so simple..."

"Some people just aren't good at some things." Tenma shrugged.

"Yeah but what am I gonna do when I get older? Brianna's definitely gonna think I'm being a bitch making her do all the cooking!"

"You could always learn."

"Pffft, always learn..."

(END OF CHAPTER 9!)

**((Thank you guys so much for reading, we as the authors are glad to announce we have reached over 200 reads on this fan fiction which to this day blows our minds because we never thought we'd get this far, but we ask a favor of you, although we may have lots of reads, we have no reviews, and with so many people reading this, we're sure that you have something to say about this fan fiction, and we'd love to hear it! Even if you're shy, because believe it or not, I'm shy too! So if possible just take a moment to type out your thoughts on the bottom and post your review, because if no one reviews, we will just assume no one likes the fan fic and we won't post the chapters that are set to come after, we've already started on chapter 10, but if no reviews are posted, we may just not post it! So don't forget to post your review and thanks for helping us get this far! ~Emily (The author) ))**


	10. Bittersweet

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Ten: Bittersweet

The next day, Astro was back in the nurse's office after hurting himself while putting books away in the library.

"I swear it wasn't my fault this time, those huge ladders are like old as hell, not to mention _totally _not safe…." Astro said, if only he could fold his arms, he would.

"Not to also mention that I was carrying a large stack of books. So you can blame the librarian for that…"

"So um… how long am I staying here?" he asked.

"Until your father comes to pick you up… _again_." The nurse replied.

"You know, you should have his number on speed dial." Astro joked.

She rolled her eyes and continued filling out paperwork.

"What? I'm just trying to lighten up the mood, sheesh!"

"Is it possible for you to sit still and wait quietly?"

"No can do, I'm quite the hyper child, actually."

"I don't know why I even asked."

"Because something in your brain found me really annoying, causing you to question why I am….."

"Ugh, my arm hurts and I can't even move it, isn't that nice?"

"That's because you probably broke it."

Astro gasped.

"Really?" He said in a sarcastic tone.

"You also could have strained it. Which is a less serious injury."

"Oh my gosh! I didn't know! Thank you so much, miss!"

"Be sarcastic again and I might not give you a bandaid the next time you get a papercut."

Astro bursted out laughing.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

Brianna walked into the nurse's office.

"Brianna!" Astro happily greeted.

"Das mah bae right there, miss!" Astro said as he pointed at Brianna.

Brianna blushed.

"Great. Just wonderful."

"Oh don't be so sad miss, he's a great boyfriend." Brianna smiled.

"Aren't you suppose to be in Health?" Astro asked.

"Yeah, but I had to drop off a book and I asked the Librarian where you were and she said you were here so I decided to stop by…." she said as she walked over to Astro and sat down.

"This is pookie face." Brianna said to the nurse as she playfully put an arm around Astro.

"Wow. Pet names. Amazing."

"Gee miss, if you're really done with life, you can just quit, i'm sure they will find another nurse…." Astro commented.

"I can't quit and I don't intend to, thank you."

"So they call your dad?" Brianna asked.

"Yeah, he should be coming soon, don't know why he always takes so long…."

"Maybe he's trying to poop?"

"That's what I thought!"

"Or maybe he's trying to find the perfect pair of pants…..or maybe he was trying to fix his hair and it got stuck in the comb?"

A moment later Tenma walked into the nurses office.

"Gah!" Brianna moved her arm away from Astro and scooted away from him, trying to look casual.

"Pfft, I _definitely _wasn't putting an arm around your son, what kind of person would _do _such a thing! Oh my gosh!" Brianna chuckled nervously.

"You're a very strange girl." Tenma chuckled.

"Ah why thank you, I believe I got it from my dad's side of my family."

"Well, come on Astro. Let's go. I signed you out in the office."

"Yeah, I better get back to Health class too. See you." Brianna got up, almost sad she didn't get to give him a goodbye kiss.

Astro watched her leave and then got up.

"She is strange, but that's just what makes her special…" Astro said.

"Haha. Yeah. She's a keeper alright."

Astro chuckled.

"I think that's enough chit chat. Now can you get that child out of here please?" The nurse said with an annoyed tone.

"Yeah she doesn't like me anymore, I thought we were friends!" 

She sighed.

"We were never really friends, Astro."

"W-what?" Astro sounded disappointed as Tenma escorted him out of the room.

"So you hurt your arm this time?" He asked him as they walked down the hall.

"Well it wasn't _my_ fault, the large ladders are really old and not safe, and I was carrying a huge stack of books!"

"Maybe you shouldn't carry so many books at once."

"But it makes it easier…"

"But it isn't safer."

"Fine, i'll keep that in mind the next time I help out in the library…."

"Good."

Astro smiled.

"So uh, what took you so long this time?"

"You do realize we don't live right around the corner, right?"

"Yeah, but even still…. that was quite some time…." 

"There _was_ a small traffic jam on East Avenue. That's probably why."

"Seriously? Traffic jam?"

"Yes seriously."

"Man, I guess not much has changed since your time."

"Yeah. Not too much."

"You know, Atom hasn't called me in a while, and he usually calls me like everyday, I say there's some serious shit going on…."

"Maybe he's just busy."

"Pffftttt, Atom _busy_? Hahahaha!"

"I should pay him a visit and see what's wrong…"

"Why not?"

Astro shrugged.

"Hmmm, speaking of Atom, I still haven't finished that book he gave me…. but I feel so weird everytime I read it…."

"It can't be that bad. How long is it anyway?"

"I have no idea, all I know is that it's the most uncomfortable book I've ever read to this day besides my Science textbook…."

"Hmm. Well maybe next time you go to read it keep in mind that you're reading it for him."

"Hmmm, I guess I could try that…"

They walked out of the school doors and to the car.

"So how's Cindy doing? Must be boring just lying in bed all day…"

"She's trying her best to be patient."

"Yeah, nine months is quite a while…"

"Tell me about it."

"Do you even have an idea as to when it's due, I'd imagine it'd be like April or something…."

"It's very soon. We're not sure of the exact date."

"Haha, wouldn't it be funny if it was like two A.M. and you're like running into my room to tell me and i'm like half asleep trying to figure out what the fuck is going on…." Astro laughed.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen."

"Haha yup, wouldn't want that…."

"Is it just me, or does everyone question poop?"

"What?"

"Is it just me, or does everyone question poop?" Astro repeated.

"No... Why are you asking that question?"

"I dunno, it just came to me…"

Tenma facepalmed.

Soon enough, they were back home.

"Ugh, c-can you open the door, i'm right handed and I can't move my arm!" Astro complained. 

"Sure. And I'll fix that up for you as soon as we get inside."

"Hahahaha, I actually lied, I'm ambidextrous, i'm just too lazy to open the door." Astro chuckled.

"Surrreeee." Tenma opened the door.

Astro proudly walked in with a smile.

"But its' true though, I really am….."

"Everyone can open a door with either hand."

"I know that, but when I write and draw too….You want me to prove it?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure you were programmed to be right handed."

"Well i'm not, i'm both right _and _left handed….."

"Hmm. Strange."

"Yes, very strange…"

"Blame it on Elefun?"

"Sure, ta heck with it!"

They both chuckled.

Astro left off to his room, opening the door with his left hand since his right arm was broken and he was unable to move it.

He came back a few hours later after finishing his homework, out of Tenma's lab after just getting his arm fixed.

"Man, humans must be so jelly they have to wait months for their arms to heal and i'm just here good as new in like an hour….." Astro said as he made it back upstairs out of the basement.

"I'm sure they are." Tenma said as he followed close behind.

"But wait, aren't you human too?"

"Haha. Yes. I am also included. But I'm not as jealous. I don't get hurt often."

"Hmmmm, humans are strange….."

"You're weird too, kiddo."

"Well I don't mean it like _that_, I mean like you know, _different_."

"I know what you meant."

"Oh, well then…"

Astro sighed with admiration before hiccuping.

"Uh- oh." He said.

"What?"

"I got the- hiccups!"

"Yes. I realized that." Tenma chuckled.

Astro continued to hiccup as he made his way to the fridge to get a glass of water.

After finally getting water and taking a few sips, the hiccups stopped, Astro sat down at the table.

"You good now?" Tenma asked him.

Astro nodded, trying to stop himself from blushing again.

It became a little too much and he blushed a little.

Astro sat there looking a little embarrassed with a hint of shame.

"You OK?"

"Uh….." Astro stuttered.

"Yep, totally fine, splendid!"

"Are you getting flustered because you had the hiccups?"

"Maybe, maybe not…"

Tenma chuckled again.

"Gah! I can't! This is seriously getting out of hand…" Astro put his head down.

"You're so silly." Tenma ruffled his hair as he left the room.

Astro looked up again and swore he heard a pounding in his ears.

"Eh, I should just go back to my room now…" Astro got up from the table and went to his room.

Getting close to midnight, Astro put his camera away and crawled into bed to sleep.

"Ugh. Can't sleep." He complained.

He tossed and turned until he fell off his bed.

Astro rubbed the back of his head as he slowly got up from the floor.

He decided to just venture out of his room until he got tired.

He walked out of his room, wearing a blanket like a cape, and slow and casually walked around the house.

When he was in the living room, he heard a strange noise from the kitchen.

Astro got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen.

The closer he got, the more he saw a light coming from the fridge.

"C-Citizen?" Astro questioned.

"AHH!" Tenma almost dropped the drink he had in his hand as he jumped back.

Astro folded his arms.

"It's almost one A.M. and you're midnight snacking?! Shame on you Citizen, shame…."

"Well. ah… I feel a little anxious and I can't sleep so…." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Well I do too, and you don't see me eating…"

"We all have different comfort items, Astro."

"Hmph." Astro walked away as he continued to hold his blanket like a cape.

"Well mines is that couch and this blanket, if you were wondering, I feel like a superhero!"

"That's great, Astro."

"Yup." Astro closed his door.

Tenma muttered something to himself as he leaned down and moved more things around in the fridge.

The next day Astro walked out of his room, dressed and in somewhat of a hurry.

"AM I LATE?!" He yelled as he ran out of the hallway.

He stopped and tried to catch his breath.

"No. But we better get out the door this second before you are." Tenma got up from the couch and walked quickly over to the door.

"WE GOTTA HURRY!"

Tenma and Astro hopped in the car and drove away.

Astro seemed like he was in a serious rush.

"THANKS, SEE YA LATER!" Astro yelled out as he ran inside.

"Where is she, where is she?" Astro frantically looked around.

"Pookie?"

"BRIANNA!" Astro turned around.

Brianna laughed.

"You seem like you're in a hurry?"

"Well uh…. I just wanted to uh…. ask you something." Astro blushed.

Brianna chuckled.

"Sure, hit me with it." She said as she took his hand and walked with him down the hall.

"Ummm, so I was thinking of going downtown today…"

"And you want me to tag along?" Brianna asked excitedly. 

"If you want." Astro shrugged.

"Pfft, why the hell would I say no?"

"I dunno, maybe you're busy doing something or you think Ken's parents will say no or you're secretly pissed off at me and don't want to go."

Brianna rolled her eyes and chuckled.

The two of them walked the hall as Astro had a proud smile on his face.

Later on after school, Astro and Brianna were walking the sidewalks, heading downtown.

"So did you ever try out for the school Drama club?" Brianna asked.

"Eh, I changed my mind at the last minute, not really much of an actor….."

"Pffft, _not_ much of an actor?! Astro you act better than the actors on TV, You'd be a perfect candidate, you can go from happy to angry to crazy, to evil to depressed, not to mention everything in between!"

"Hmmmm, you do have a point…."

"You see!"

There was a moment of silence as the two walked side-by-side next to each other.

"Hey, uh, how far are we from-"

Astro noticed something in the distant.

"Uh, I think we should turn back…"

"What do you me-"

"HEY!" a voice yelled in the distant.

Astro gasped and the two of them quickly turned around.

"HEY! HEY GET BACK HERE! THE HELL YOU DOING?!"

A was a sound of a gunshot heard in the distant.

A few minutes later, with a panic, Astro knocked on the door of his house, with Brianna clinging onto him, her face too, showing panic and fear.

Tenma opened the door and looked puzzled when he saw them. His expression slowly turned to concern.

"What happened? You two look like you saw a ghost. Or ten." He asked as he let them inside.

"Ummm… well we almost died if that's what you're asking." Astro replied.

"You what?!"

"We went downtown and there was like this thing going on and we just happen to accidentally pass by at the wrong place and the wrong time."

"Are you OK? Did you get hurt?"

"No we're fine, cuz I'm a ninja with mad skills! Haha just kidding, I'm trained to deal with bullshit like that…"

"Well, thank god you're both fine." Tenma sighed with relief

"Yeah, but now I think Brianna is traumatized." Astro said as he looked down at Brianna who had her eyes tightly shut and forcefully clinged onto his shirt.

"I'll get her something to drink. In the meantime you should both sit down and relax."

Astro nodded and both him and Brianna went to go sit in the living room.

Tenma came back and set a glass of water down on the coffee table.

"You can take that whenever you're ready." He said to Brianna.

"It-It was scary!" she whined.

"We were just walking and then I hear this thing and I'm like 'wha?' and then this dude was like 'HEY! HEY GET BACK HERE! THE HELL YOU DOING?' And then we turned back and I hear this loud boom and it was really scary!" Tears almost formed in Brianna's eyes.

"Hey now. It's ok. You're safe here." Tenma patted her shoulder lightly. 

She picked up the cup from the coffee table.

"I guess you're right." She said before taking a sip.

He sat in his chair and looked over at Brianna and Astro.

"I'm sorry, kids, but I'm not really sure what I can do about this….." He said after thinking for a moment.

"Pfft don't worry, bet you anything that old careless shit Tawashi's gonna call me and stuff, you know how he is, he hates my guts, not that I mind but you know…. ugh."

Astro's phone rang.

"Well that's my cue, see you all in a few."

Astro got up and left the living room.

"Yellow?"

"Yep?"

"Hmmm I see, and when is that?

"Uh huh"

"No no, It's ok, don't worry."

Astro hung up the phone.

"Yep, he called me in." He said, sitting back down on the couch in the living room.

"When do you have to be there?" Tenma asked him

"_Ass_ soon as humanly possible."

"I can drive you there, if you want."

"No no i'll go by myself, not gonna leave Brianna home alone." Astro got up again and headed for the door.

"I'LL BE BACK LATER!" He called out before closing the door.

Brianna and Tenma awkwardly stared at eachother before Tenma picked up a book and began reading it.

"It's been a while….."

"I know, haven't been here in two weeks."

Astro sat down in a chair in front of Tawashi's desk.

He sighed.

"You wouldn't happen to have been downtown recently, hmm?"

"Yes."

"What do you know about the fights downtown?"

"Nothing, all I know is you're an asshole and that's the end of it."

Tawashi sighed.

"Astro, I'm being serious, were you downtown today."

Astro sighed.

He got up.

"You listen here, and you listen well you damn fool! I was there, I passed by there with Brianna and a dude with a weird ass buzz cut pulled out a gun and almost shot us, thankfully he missed, but we almost got killed and you _dare_ accuse me of committing a crime I almost got killed by, you and the authorities are nothing but jackasses pointing fingers at the innocent with your cold, helpless souls, and I hope someday you and the law meet me in hell so I can whoop your helpless ass and let _you_ feel the pain of the innocent." Astro furiously ranted at him in a threatening tone through his teeth.

He soon after stood up and left the police station.

Astro stormed inside the house and with a look of anger and annoyance, walked himself to his room and slammed the door.

"Gee, wonder what got into him..." Brianna said as she turned around.

Tenma shrugged.

Brianna sighed and got up from the couch.

She walked over to Astro's door and knocked.

"Astro?" Her voice sounded soft and sweet.

Astro didn't respond.

Brianna knocked again, this time a bit louder.

"Astro?" She called out.

After giving up, Brianna took her hand off the door, sighed, and walked back to the living room, sitting herself back down on the couch.

"Just leave him alone for now. He'll calm down and come out soon." Tenma said to her.

Brianna just nodded and took her final sip of the cup Tenma had given to her previously.

She put the cup back down on the table.

"Woah." She put a hand over her forehead and leaned forward. 

"Are you ok?" Tenma looked up at her.

"Ah...not...sure..."

"Do you need to lie down on the couch or anything?" He asked, concerned.

Astro walked out into the hallway.

"Not sure..." She sounded a bit drowsy.

Tenma got up and walked in front of her. He lifted her head up to see her bloodshot eyes.

"Maybe you should just lie down." He looked alarmed.

"Brianna?" Astro walked into the living room.

"Something's wrong." Tenma looked over at him.

"Well she looks like she's about to faint..."

"No... No I-I'm fine... I should...just...go h-home..." Brianna sluggishly Waved her hand and shook her head.

"Would you like me to drive you back home?" Tenma looked back at her.

"I...I don't." She leaned in forward and collapsed.

Tenma caught her before she fell to the ground.

Astro took a step back, slightly spooked.

"Ah…." Tenma looked over at him again.

Astro didn't know what to do.

"Ah… Go…. Go get your stepmother, Astro."

Astro walked out of the living room and into Cindy's room.

"M-mom?" He asked as he slowly opened her door.

"Hmm?" She looked over at him as she slowly woke up.

"ummm... Citizen is calling you..."

"Why?" She asked drowsily.

"um, something happened to Brianna in the living room..."

"What happened to her?"

"I-I think she fainted..."

"Mmmm. Can you come over here and help me up?"

"S-sure." He walked over to her.

After helping her out of the bed, they walked into the living room.

Tenma had laid Brianna down on the couch. He looked over at Cindy with a nervous look on his face.

She walked over and looked at Brianna.

"Seems as if her blood sugar was lower than normal." She said looking at Tenma.

"Do you know when the last time she had something to eat was, Astro?" Cindy looked back at Astro.

"Hmmmm..." Astro tried to think.

He shook his head.

"Was she with you all day?"

"Yeah, I had her during lunch, but she never ate anything, she just said she wasn't hungry." Astro shrugged.

"Put a cold compress on her head and when she wakes up, give her some soda and a spoonful of honey." Cindy said to Tenma.

He nodded and she left the room.

Astro sat down on the ground and sighed.

"You alright there, buddy?" Tenma looked over at him as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Yeah." He replied as he began to itch his arm.

Tenma made his way into the kitchen and came out a few moments later with a cold damp towel in his hands. He lightly placed it on Brianna's forehead then sat back down in his chair.

"so, how's it going?" Astro asked.

"Ok." Tenma replied.

"Hmm, that's fun."

"Yup."

"Can you believe Tawashi thought _I_ was the one causing trouble downtown?! I almost got killed!"

"I actually _can_ believe it. Once you've made his 'list', he'll even arrest you for simply sneezing in public."

"Pffft, he's no better than Elefun, I'll tell you that?!"

"This city is full of grouchy old men."

"And you?"

"What?! I'm not old!"

"I didn't say you were old..."

"Pft. I know you meant it."

"what?! Come on, you're not old you're 'middle-aged'"

"But I'm not even 40 yet."

"What? Woah, I need to seriously rethink my life then..."

"I can't believe you forgot my age!"

"Well let's see, how many years have I _known_ you?" 

"As many years as you've been alive."

"Hmmmm, that's still not long enough. And you also have to remember most of that time was spent with Elefun and the Underground City." 

"Mmm. I guess you wouldn't really think about it since my birthday hasn't come around yet."

"Hmmm, speaking of birthday, I hope _certain_ people haven't forgotten _someone's_ special birthday because that would major poopy..."

"Who's?"

Astro facepalmed.

"You're kidding me?"

"No. Who's birthday is coming up? If it's so important then you gotta tell me."

"A ghost across the street that wears an eyepatch!"

"Come on, Astro. Be serious."

"I am being serious..."

"No you're not."

"Mmhm." Astro nodded before chuckling.

Tenma sighed. "What. Is it one of your friends'."

"I hope not because I ain't got no money to buy them a gift."

"Well it can't be mine, of course. It can't be Kaitlyn's or Cindy's or Atom's. I know those are later in the year. Is it Emily's? I'd feel terrible if it's hers and I forgot."

"No, I think her's passed already in October..."

"Oh…. It's not… your's…. is it?"

"Ummmm... I dunno, maybe _yes_, maybe _no_..."

"... OH. Now I remember. It _is_ your's."

Astro facepalmed.

"Yes." He muttered.

"Ok good. Looks like im not losing it after all. Maybe I really am an old man."

Astro just stared at Tenma.

"She's been out cold for quite a while." Astro said as he looked over at Brianna.

"She'll wake up soon enough."

Astro sighed.

"I just hope she's okay."

"She'll be fine." 

"I'll just have to take your word for it." 

A few short moments later, Brianna slowly opened her eyes.

She mumbled something indescribable.

"Hmm?" Tenma looked up from the book he was reading.

"Oh! You're awake." He got up and walked over to the couch.

"Huh, what do you mean? Something happen?"

"You just fainted, that's all." Tenma took the towel away from her forehead and helped her sit up.

"Oh. Well that's surprising, never really fainted before..."

"Well it's because you didn't eat anything today."

"Oh... Well... I can um, explain...you see um..."

"Yes?"

"Ummmm... I wasn't hungry?" Brianna shrugged as she spoke in a higher pitched voice.

"Is that all it was?"

"Uh, yeah totally, not like I haven't eaten in _days_ haha... That's _so_ not me." Brianna laughed nervously.

Tenma raised an eyebrow.

"Haha. Ha." She continued to nervously laugh.

"Brianna… Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Noooooo... Of course not, never told a, lie, except this one time in Kindergarten when I lied about stealing the teacher's Apple, those were the days man, those were the days..."

"I'm going to trust that you aren't lying to me." Tenma looked her dead in the eye.

"Pffft, I never lie to adults, trust me, that's a lesson my mom taught me, _real_ fast."

"I'll be right back." Tenma got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Hmmmm, wonder where he's going..."

"so how's it going?" Brianna asked Astro.

"Pfft, you little liar."

"What? I'm not lying?!"

"_Sure_, and that high pitched nervous voice of yours isn't lying _either_..."

Brianna sighed and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Ok fine, you got me, but I'm not gonna tell him that or he'll freak! I'm just not really having any appetite lately."

"But you still need to eat, you know that right?"

Brianna sighed again.

"I know I just..." She began.

"Last thing I need is for someone to mistake me for having some sort of eating disorder, because last time I checked, I didn't have any." 

"That's still not an excuse..." Astro folded his arms.

"I know, I know, I ju-"

"How could you?"

Brianna sighed.

"I don't know okay, I'm sorry!"

"And you do this at Ken's house?"

All she could do was nod.

Astro sighed, got up and left the living room.

He sat down at the table.

"I'm worried." He muttered.

"Why?" Tenma sked him as he poured a glass of soda.

"she's lying."

"I know."

"Wait, you knew?"

"It was a little obvious. I'm not stupid, you know. I was a teenager once. I know how these things go."

"I know, I know..."

"She doesn't have to be afraid of telling me."

"Well, she just didn't want you to freak or to think that she had some sort of eating disorder." Astro shrugged.

"I wouldn't have freaked out."

"Well that's just what she said, I have no part in this..."

"Hmmmm. It's her choice to tell me or not. So if she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to."

"Hmmmm I see, you make a good point."

A few minutes later, Brianna looked over her shoulder to see Astro and Tenma walk into the living room.

Tenma handed her the glass of soda.

"Huh? What's the soda for?"

"To raise your blood sugar to normal."

"Oh." She grabbed the glass from him slowly and took a sip.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked her as he sat back down again.

"Hmmmm... A little better."

"That's good."

Brianna nodded and out the cup down.

"I think that's enough soda for me."She began.

"Drink the whole thing."

"Nah, I think I'm good."

"Do you want to pass out again?"

"Um, yeah, you make a good point." Brianna reached over for the soda again.

((END OF CHAPTER 10))


	11. Once a Family, Always a Family (PART I)

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Eleven: Once a Family, Always a Family - PART I

Late after Dinner one night, Astro was sitting on the couch staring at the TV with tears in his eyes, he sniffled as he wiped his nose with an arm and reached over for the tissues he had placed next to him beforehand.

He blew into the tissue and set it aside on the floor.

Tenma walked inside the living room. 

Astro sniffled again.

"You OK?" Tenma asked.

"No!" Astro reached over for another tissue and blew into it violently.

"Ummmm." Tenma stood where he was, utterly confused.

"My favorite character is _leaving_, just, _leaving_, he's not dead but he's just gonna leave?! NOOOOO COME BACK!"

"Oh. Is that all it is?"

"He-he's gone! I need another tissue!"

"Maybe he'll come back?"

Astro stared at Tenma.

"Uhhh..."

Astro sighed and turned off the TV.

He took his box of tissues with him and left for his room.

As he walked off to his room, he heard a noise.

"Oh I forgot I left my phone here." He said as he picked up his phone from the table.

"_Yellow, Astro isha speakin right now?" _

"_**Yeelow Pookie Face!"**_

"_Oh, it's __**you**__."_

"_**Yeah it's the bitch about to beat the shit out of you if you keep going….."**_

"_Uh huh….."_ Astro nodded.

"_**Is old man citizen there?"**_

"_No he's busy watching The Food's Network, Oooo is that Rachel Pay? I hear she cooks really good food in just 30 minutes!" _

_**"Focus!"**_

"_Fine."_

"_**Just give him the stupid phone, I need to discuss some stuff on atoms and why the hell electrons are on the outside and not on the inside with ummmmm….. ummmmm…. ummmm JUST GIVE HIM THE FUCKIN- I mean the **__freaking __**phone!"**_

"_**Can't be cursing all the time…."**_

Astro just sighed and walked into the living room.

"This blonde chick wants to use her breath to communicate to you." He said to Tenma.

Tenma looked confused but took the phone from Astro.

"You waste all my battery I'm gonna murder you…" Astro said as he slowly walked away.

"Don't worry. I won't."

"Hello?" He said into the phone.

_"Oh, it's you right, not pookie- I mean Astro? -god I need to stop using pet names….-"_

"Yes. What is it you need?"

_"Oh great, because this loud mouth little bird that lives here tells me you're doing something for Astro's birthday?"  
_  
"Mmm. Yes."

_"Hmm I see, and I know just what you need…."  
_  
"What would that be?"

_"A baker! And what better baker to hire than miss Brianna 'Baker' Turner who specializes in all kinds of desserts and sweet stuff?! Heh? __**Heh**__?"  
_  
"If you want to do all that, you can. I would greatly appreciate it."

_"I can bake you a cake right on the spot, and you don't need to pay, i'll just borrow from my college funds to get myself materials at the store…."  
_  
"You don't need to do that." Tenma chuckled. "I'll pay for anything you need."

_"Oh no no, i'm nonprofit, you see, baking is in my family, family skill."  
_  
"Would it hurt if I 'generously donate' the funds instead?"

_"Hmmmm….. that __**does**__ sound nice, but um… I guess i'm gonna have to buy myself a piggy bank first…."  
_  
Tenma chuckled again.

"_So uh, you need it before April 7th?" _

"Sure."

_"Okie dokie, just tell me how you want it and i'll have a professional looking cake the next day, and I'm also starting to get a little into arts and crafts so if you need decorations you can hire me for that too, but I can't guarantee it'll be 'professional'"  
_  
"I'll be sure to ask you if I need anything."

_"Yup! Nice doing business with ya future Father-in-Law! Hehe, wait, what?"  
_

Tenma tried not to burst out laughing.

"Pft. It was... It was nice doing business with you too, Brianna." His voice almost cracked.

_"Uhhhh, yeah, let's just pretend I said nothing and you can give the phone back to pook- I mean Astro! Damnit these pet names!"  
_  
"Haha. OK. Bye."

_"Bai bai!"_

Tenma got up and handed the phone back to Astro, who was in the kitchen.

"Hmmmm, such laughing, I don't think you guys were talking about atoms….." He said as he put his phone down on the kitchen counter. 

"Science can be funny if you try hard enough."

"_Sure_ it can….."

"So uh, any plans these coming weeks, say on the _7th_?" Astro asked.

"The 7th? Hmmm. _The 7th_. I don't think so."

"Hmmm…. strange, you know it's on a _Tuesday_, right?" Astro asked again.

He accidentally moved his arm and his phone fell on the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ARE YOU OKAY?!" He got down and picked it up.

"Phew! this phone is like a miracle, I drop this thing everywhere and it has yet to break or crack, I say that's good luck right there. GOODIE LUCKIEEEEEE!" He yelled as he walked out of the kitchen and to his room.

In a room in Elefun's house, Atom was seated at his desk tapping a pencil on the wood in a somewhat in-sync beat.

He sighed.

It felt like things were flashing in and out.

He began to mutter to himself.

_Why?_

_I thought I was better than this. _

_I thought I could take it._

_Push it aside. _

_I care._

_I care a lot. _

_I may care a little too much, but that's not for anyone to ask._

_But i'm broken._

_I've put these things aside for too long. _

_Maybe it's time I take a break and sit my feelings down and ask how it's day is instead of going around and asking everybody else._

Silence.

The tapping of the pencil stopped.

A sigh.

A movement of a chair.

A walk out the door.

Atom wasn't sure where he was going, but he kept walking.

The answer had to be along the way.

Along the lines of somewhere.

Somewhere in society within grasp.

But the more he walked, the more tortured he became.

Started with a bruise and now a scar.

Started with a thought and now a headache.

Started with a chance to get better, but before he could even reach the door to see if Astro would open, he fell, dragging his fist down the door, making a squeaky noise.

His hurt eyes closed slowly as his whole body gave up on him.

He could never explain what happen when footsteps came to the door and saw a terrible robot lying helpless on the ground, beaten and mentally torn to shreds.

If only his heart could let out a beat, Atom would smile.

"A-ATOM?!"

Astro got on his knees and gently lifted up Atom's head.

"No…." He shook his head as tears streamed down his face as he looked at his beaten twin.

Astro heard footsteps in the distant and turned around.

He slowly turned back around and picked Atom up off the ground in a gentle manner, not wanting to hurt him more than he already was hurt.

Astro slowly carried him inside.

He set Atom down by the table.

Astro put his head down.

There came the footsteps again.

Astro slow and yet quietly raised his head up again.

Footsteps are louder now.

"Astro?" Asks a familiar voice.

Astro turned around with a sad face and watery eyes. 

Tenma walked into the room.

"A-Atoms-" Astro couldn't even utter what he was going to say.

"What happen?" Tenma quickened his pace as he walked up to Astro.

"I-I don't…. I-I don't…. know!"

"Let's get him downstairs."

Astro nodded and shushed himself on the inside.

Tenma carried Atom down to the basement as Astro followed close behind.

"I'm not sure what happened, but something must have went down on Atom's way here, not even sure why he wanted to come all the sudden…."

"We can question why he's here later. Right now we need to make sure he's not... gone."

"What do you mean?"

"Dead. He might be _dead._" Tenma said with a suddenly harsh tone.

Astro took a step back and looked down.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, Astro. I didn't mean to lash out like that."

"It- It's ok, we have room to improve and room to forgive."

Tenma smiled sheepishly and set Atom down on the table.

Astro made room for himself on the floor and sat down.

He slowly fell asleep. 

Minutes and maybe even hours had passed, Astro tossed and turned until he curled up into a ball and shivered.

Cold floors are not the best to sleep on.

He felt a hand shake his shoulder.

"Hmmm?" Astro looked up as he spoke in a sleepy tone.

"Astro?" Tenma stood over him.

"Uh huh?"

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, i'm just c-cold. This floor is freezing!"

Tenma pulled a chair over.

"You can sit here."

"Mmmhmmm." Astro sluggishly nodded and sat down in the chair, going back to sleep. 

Tenma walked up stairs and came back a few moments later with a blanket in his arms. He laid it over Astro's shoulders with a small grin.

Astro faintly smiled.

Tenma sighed and walked over to the table where Atom was sleeping soundly.

"Sure, you can crown me king of Unicorn land…." He said with a chuckle in his sleep.

Tenma sat down on his office chair and drifted off into sleep.

Atom giggled for a final time.

Later on, another fist knocked its knuckles upon the door of the Tenma household for yet another time.

Kaitlyn swayed back and forth as she patiently waited for an answer. Yet there was none. 

"Hello?!" She called. And once again there was no reply. 

Growing impatient, she took a step back and lifted up the welcome mat that had always greeted any visitor before anyone else. She pulled out a key from beneath. 

"Under the mat. As usual." She said examining the key before unlocking the door with it.

"Yo! Anyone here?!"

Her voice echoed back to her.

"Its 7:30 AM on a Thursday…. at least Astro should be here…."

She stood in the middle of the living room as she thought for a minute.

"Cindy should be here." Kaitlyn turned and strolled down the hallway to Cindy and Tenma's bedroom.

She slowly opened the door. Like she suspected, Cindy was sound asleep.

But Tenma was missing.

As she silently closed the door she heard a small noises downstairs. Like someone mumbling something.

Of course, she had to investigate, so she made her way to the basement door then down the steps.

Atom giggled for like the thousandth time.

"No, not Mr. Tickles?!" He turned to his side.

"MR. TICKLES!"

"Gah!" Astro fell out of his chair.

Atom was sniffing and whimpering as Kaitlyn made it down the stairs and into the basement.

"Aw. They must've had a sleepover. How cute." Kaitlyn giggled as she saw the three goofballs sound asleep in Tenma's lab.

She walked over to Atom.

"Atom?" She whispered softly. 

"NOOOO WHYYYYYYYYY WHY WOULD YOU HURT SUCH AN INNOCENT STUFFED DINOSAUR?!"

"Atom!" She whispered again trying to calm him down.

"Hu-Wah?" Atom opened his eyes.

"Shhhh. Get up."

"But they hurt Mr. Tickles the stuffed dinosaur?!"

"It was a dream. Now get up and come over here."

"Fine, but I still think they should have not done that to Mr. Tickles..." Atom said as he slowly got up and made his way to Kaitlyn. 

"I'm sure Mr. Tickles will be fine."

"You really think so?"

"Yup! I give you my word."

"Yay!" 

"Now lets wake these nerds up." Kaitlyn looked over at Tenma and Astro.

"Mmmhmm." Atom nodded.

"I'm already up, so dont bother me..." Astro said as he slowly got up from the floor.

"Whatever." She walked over to Tenma.

Kaitlyn cleared her throat.

"TENMA! QUICK! ASTRO'S BEING EATEN BY A GIANT CHICKEN." She yelled.

"HUH WHA?!" His eyes shot open.

"Haha! Just kidding." She chuckled.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Tenma held his hand to his chest and hyperventilated.

"Well, that wasn't really my goal. But at least you're awake now." She grinned.

Atom rubbed his eye briefly.

"Oh yeah, so we never got around to asking Atom why he came here." Astro began.

"Oh, uh... About that..."

Atom sighed and sat back down on the table.

"Well, I haven't really been my best lately...

"It seems like all I've been doing is pushing my feelings aside for others, and I guess its starting to get to me... 

"Its like I can't seem to be there for everyone all the time and it kinda hurts on the inside. But it's like I can't feel anything sometimes because i'm just suddenly too happy." Atom's eyes became a bit watery. 

He got up and walked out of the basement.

"Atom….." a voice reached their hand out and called to him.

Atom slowly turned around with tears in his eyes before storming away.

"No one… no one's gonna even try?" Astro began.

He soon got up and looked around for Atom.

He saw him sitting outside the house on the ground.

Astro sat down next to him.

Atom motioned with his shoulders for Astro to leave.

Astro sighed.

"Atom."

"No."

"Atom, it's not your fault... Your a really great brother, great friend, and I don't think anyone would have the guts to leave you behind or shut you away, there's no need to set how you feel aside, you should speak your mind about it, and if someone speaks negatively about it, then... There just a big fat bully trying to bring you down."

"And there's nothing that hurts me more than seeing you  
in pain, because I've been there and I know it's extremely ugly,  
its not fun at all."

"So I Want you to be open and not push things aside for others."

"Because I love you."

Astro put an arm around Atom who smiled and scooted closer to Astro.

Atom snuggled closer to Astro and closed his eyes.

Astro looked down at him with a chuckle. 

He started to softly sing a song as he slowly rocked Atom back and forth.

Atom had a look on his face like he was about to sneeze, but he never did, which made Astro laugh for a few moments.

All then became still and quiet.

Atom closed his eyes for a final time before falling asleep again.

Kaitlyn walked out the door and saw Astro with Atom in his arms, fast asleep. 

"Aw. That's cute." She smiled as she walked down the steps

"Sssh!" Astro shushed her.

"Wha?" Atom woke up again and rubbed his eye. ((Gosh Atom is such a light sleeper…. ~Emily)) ((lol. And Astros always waking him up somehow. ~Kait))

"Good job, Astro."

"You're very welcome." Astro grinned.

Kaitlyn stuck her tongue out.

Atom sighed again.

He looked over at Kaitlyn before holding his arms out to her.

"Hmm? You want me to hold you?" She asked.

Atom sluggishly nodded.

"Oh yeah sure, have the blonde chick give you affection instead of your own brother!" Astro folded his arms. 

"At least I don't wake him up seventy percent of the time." Kaitlyn sat down next to Atom.

"Eh, you make a good point….."

"Yes. Yes I do."

Atom put his arms around Kaitlyn as she laid hers over his shoulders.

"I-I'm really sorry, for everything you know, causing all this ruckus today and being so harsh on myself for others…"

"No no, Atom. You did nothing wrong. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that." Kaitlyn comforted him.

Atom smiled.

"Y-you really think so?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"No." 

"Then yes. I really do think so."  
((I now have all the evidence to conclude that a) Tenma is everyone's Dad and b) Atoms is everyone's adorable little brother. Thank you. ~Kait))

Atom chuckled to himself and looked up at Kaitlyn with a smile. 

She looked over at him and smiled back.

Atom soon slowly closed his eyes again and fell back asleep with a warm feeling on the inside.

Kaitlyn looked down to make sure Atom had fallen asleep before reaching her arm over and poking Astro on the shoulder.

"Hmmm?" He questioned in a semi-loud tone.

"Shh." She whispered.

"Oh, right." he whispered back.  
She stuck her tongue out again with a blank look on her face.

"Mmmmmhmmmm."

She stared at him with the same expression for a few moments then looked back out at the street.

Astro got up and walked back inside.

Atom still gently had his arms around Kaitlyn.

She thought for a second before carefully lifting him up and walking back inside. She slowly let him down on the couch.

"No, no, you have to make an exception, you need to let Kaitlyn be the queen of Unicorn Land, she's done more than enough to deserve it." Again, Atom was talking in his sleep.

Kaitlyn quietly chuckled and walked into the kitchen.

Tenma was sitting at the table as usual.

"I'm gonna get going now. I guess I'll stop over tomorrow before I leave." She said to him from the doorway.

"I'll see you then." Tenma looked up and smiled at her.

She smiled back and waved to him before leaving the house. He waved back to her as she left the room.

She passed by Atom again on her way out. She smiled gently as he mumbled something else in his sleep.

((END OF CHAPTER 11))


	12. Interlude: Through a Maze in His Mind

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Interlude: Through a Maze in His Mind

There he was.

Standing upon what seemed like a road leading towards forever.

It was a dream.

But the feeling was real.

The genuine thought of what was coming next,

Was real.

Astro didn't know what to do.

Left, right, up, down…

It all seemed the same to him.

It was like,

A maze.

Yes,

A maze.

A maze he could never get out of.

He heard a scream in the distance.

With a slight scare he took a step back, breaking the ground and falling.

He heard the screaming again.

It felt like someone had wrapped their arms around him.

He tried to escape.

Tears streamed down his face before hearing a final scream.

Astro suddenly woke up and felt arms being wrapped around and soothing him.

His throat felt dry.

Astro sniffled.

He looked up.

Atom looked back down at him.

"A-Atom?" Astro was confused yet surprised.

"Hi." Atom grinned.

Astro tried to smile even though he was still crying.

Atom wiped away the tears from his face.

"W-what are you doing here, anyway?" Astro asked.

"I left a book here."

"Oh.. then you must've heard me screaming.."

"Yeah."

Astro sighed and more tears streamed down his face.

"You OK?"

Astro shrugged.

Atom held him a little tighter and rocked back and forth.

"You'll be fine." He whispered gently.

Astro sluggishly nodded.

"If you say so…."

((END OF INTERLUDE))


	13. Once a Family, Always a Family (PART II)

The Tenmas

Another Amazing Astro Boy fanfiction by Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga (aka Kaitlyn Kaidraman)

Chapter Twelve: Once a Family, Always a Family - PART II

"Hu-wah? D-did Kaitlyn leave?" Atom asked when he woke up on the couch.

"Yep, she left a while ago…" Astro said to Atom

"Oh, well I better get going then….." Atom said as he slowly got up from the couch.

"Haha, good thing I don't have school today or tomorrow." Astro laughed.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, today the teachers have to work and I think tomorrow is a religious holiday or some shit."

"Or was it the other way aro- I dunno, I just have today off so i'm gonna go celebrate by hiding from Tenma in my room for like a couple hours straight…."

"YOU HEAR THAT TENMA? I'M HIDING IN MY ROOM IN A MAGICAL PLACE YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME SO YOU CAN RANT AND TAKE A SHIT ALL YOU WANT AND I WON'T SAY OR DO A THING BECAUSE I'LL BE TOO BUSY HIDING IN MY MAGICAL PLACE!"

"Suuuuurreeeee." Tenma yelled back from the kitchen.

"YUP CAN'T GET ANY BETTER THEN THIS CACA STINKY!" Astro smiled.

Atom had already walked out the door and left.

"But before I go hide, what's for breakfast?" Astro asked along the way to the kitchen.

Hours later, when it was lunch time, Tenma walked down the hallway and knocked on Astro's door.

Astro giggled.

Tenma walked through the door.

Astro was sitting on his bed with a blanket covering him, but making it clear where he was, also considering his feet were sticking out of the blanket.

"Astro, it's time for lunch."

"Wha? I can't hear you, im hiding in my magical place." Astro said from under the blanket.

Tenma sighed and walked up to Astro's bed. He pulled the sheets off from him.

"Hey! I was hiding in my magical place?!"

"But don't you want your lunch?"

"Hmmmm." Astro pulled the sheet over him.

"I'll be there after I say goodbye, the people here get really annoyed when you don't say bye…."

"Fine." Tenma walked out of the room.

"Goodbye, hehe…" Astro giggled. ((Lol, Astro having an Atom moment #becausethatsjustwhattwinsdo ~Emily))

Astro got up and walked out of his room with his blanket hung over him like a cape as he walked out of the hallway and sat down at the table.

"I'm a superhero now!" Astro exclaimed.

"Yes. Yes you are." Tenma ruffled Astro's hair before placing down a sandwich in front of him.

"Mmmm, sandwich, because why not?"

"I wonder if you can eat a sandwich with a fork?" Astro wondered aloud.

"It would be extremely difficult."

"Really? But it's a fork…."

"If you don't have a knife then it would be hard."

"Hmmm, I wanna try it someday…"

"Good luck with that."

"Yup maybe I might even try-"

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll be right back." Tenma said as he left the room.

He opened the door to see Brianna standing there with tears in her eyes and a red face.

"Brianna? Are you alright?"

Brianna couldn't even speak, she just stood there and nodded.

"Hmm. How about you come in?"

She nodded again and walked inside.

Astro still sat at the table with a fork in his hand, trying to eat his sandwich and keep his shoulders high so his blanket won't fall off.

"Eatin a sandwich with a fork, eatin a sandwich with a fork!"

Tenma walked back to the table with Brianna following close behind.

"BRIAN….na." Astro sounded excited but it slowly drained out.

"What's wrong, you seem upset?" He asked.

Brianna sighed and sat down at the table in a chair in front of Astro.

"Don't tell me they're hurting you at Ken's house too…."

"N-no… no… they didn't do anything wrong… I'm just getting all worked up for nothing you know…."

Tenma sat down next to her.

"You sure about that, you seem really upset?" Astro's voice sounded concerned.

"I'm…. N- I'm fine." She cut herself off and tried to smile.

"I just…. I don't know what I did wrong?!" She sighed.

"What do you mean?" Astro asked.

Brianna looked over at Tenma.

"Nothing." Brianna was able to slowly force a smile.

"It's not nothing." Tenma looked back at her.

"No really, it- it's fine…it's nothing."

"Brianna…."

"It's nothing okay!"

Astro took a bite of his sandwich, looking at Tenma.

Brianna sighed.

"I just don't wanna talk about it, you'd never understand…."

"We'd understand more than you'd think we would." Tenma said to her.

"Well I just don't understand what I did to have my mom be so cruel, I mean yeah sure my dad left us before I even went to kindergarten, and yeah sure i'm not perfect, but…. she was just so mean and cruel to me and I honestly don't know what I did to deserve all of it."

"It's not your fault, Brianna. Some people get angry and don't know how to control it. Then they let it out on the innocent people around them. You didn't do anything wrong and you didn't deserve one moment of it."

Brianna sighed again.

"I mean she's gone now, they locked her up in jail, but…. even though she was a terrible mother, she's still my mom and I kinda miss her you know, because I always wonder what went wrong…." she tried to stop more tears from coming.

"I just feel like it's _my_ fault she got sent away, like I drove her insane."

"It's not your fault."

"Of course it is, I passed her limits, she hates robots with a dieing vein, and you know what I do? I go out with this guy!" Brianna pointed to Astro.

"I've just always found a way to upset her somehow, and I just feel like I've gone too far." She put her head down on the table.

"I've just always been upset and sad on the inside and I think it's starting to come out of me….." her voice was slightly muffled.

"I-I can't" Brianna stood up.

"I just don't wanna be a burden anymore….." She walked out the door with tears in her eyes.

Astro sighed.

"It just hurts me to see her in pain" he said.

"I just- no one should have to go through something so terrible, because I know what it's like, and it's not beautiful at all... it-it's horrendous and terrible." Astro tried to hold in his tears.

"I know..." Tenma covered his eyes with his hands and rested his arms on the table.

Astro put his sandwich down.

"What If this is my fault?" He thought out loud.

"It's not your fault."

"No no, what if instead of shielding everyone from the pain, I just handed it to them..."

"I can't!" Astro got up and stormed away with tears in his eyes.

Tenma sighed as he rested his forehead on the table, wrapping his arms around his head, hoping to block out the world.

Astro shortly exited his room and went back to the table, this time sitting next to Tenma and copying what he was doing.

"I like this new trend you've started." He said.

"You think it's gonna go viral?"

Tenma sighed again.

"It's not really the time for funny business, Astro." He lifted his head up slightly and muttered.

"Of course it is, and if your dad doesn't find it funny, then he must not be in a playful mood and needs to go outside and take the ice bucket challenge..."

"I'll go get the ice and escort you outside if you'd like?"

"Or I can buy you a giant tub of ice cream and you can drown your face in it."

Tenma reached his arm out and rested his hand on Astro's shoulder.

"Please. Shut the fuck up."

"But, do you know the muffin man?"

"Astro."

"What, I was just asking... always good to know one!"

Tenma rolled his eyes and smirked.

Suddenly, one of the legs of Astros chair came loose, causing him to plop onto the ground and the chair not far from him.

He was clueless for a moment before looking up at Tenma.

Tenma stared back down at him.

"Looks like you're gonna need a new chair." Astro said.

Tenma slowly got out of his chair and walked over to Astro.

"Run."

"Actually I like sitting."

"No. _Run. Now._"

"But it's a free country!"

"Trust me. You'll wanna run." Tenma leaned down and grabbed one of the chair legs, breaking it off of the seat.

"Ugh, fine. I need the exercise anyways." Astro slowly got up and began walking at a slow pace.

"Yup, quite the exercise, thanks dad!"

Tenma gave up and threw the leg back into the pile of wood that was once a chair.

"Oh who am i kidding, i might as well fix it myself." Astro walked back and picked up the pile of wood, carrying it with him to his room.

"No. I'll just buy a new one." Tenma said as Astro approached the doorway.

"No, I'll fix it.."

"Fine. If you insist."

"Just give me 10 years and I'll have it done before you die..."

Astro froze and dropped the pile in his hand.

"Wait a minute."

"What if we're all just cartoon characters being written out by two people with kickass writing skills?"

"You think too hard. And it is possible… in another universe perhaps. But not that I know of"

"Because how else could that chair have fucking broke, they must have written that so they could laugh their asses off..."

"Or maybe you haven't been watching what you're eating and your ass got bigger."

"IM ONTO YOU CRAZY WRITING PEOPLE!"

"Butt's big. Brain, not so much." Tenma slowly shook his head as he walked out of the room.

"Whats worse is that it might run in the family."

Tenma looked back and stuck his tongue out.

"Doesn't mean it has to be from _my_ side."

"Oh yeah considering _you're_ the one that made me!"

"Well if I made you, then you can be different. That might partially be Elefun's fault. You never know."

"Oh great, another asshole i gotta worry about!"

"An even greater reason to worry about Atom..."

"Hey... Do you think anyone would notice if i ran away again?"

"Yes."

"Really? I always thought after the first time, they'd just give up on me... I really did fuck up that time..."

"People care about you Astro. They're going to miss you if you leave."

"Well they don't seem to show it when they see me around..."

"It might be hard for some people to show it."

"Then maybe i will walk out this door someday just to see their reaction, so I'll remember it forever..."

"I'll let you know now, that if I'm still here, you won't get 3 feet down the driveway."

"Oh really? At 5 AM you're gonna come after me after I've gotten 2 and a half feet down the driveway?"

He nodded.

"Well then I better get started on perfecting my ninja skills..."

"We'll see."

Tears streamed down Astros face as he quietly carried his pile and walked to his room.

Sobs could be heard from outside the door.

"Astro. Are you alright?" Tenma lightly knocked on the door.

"Maybe, maybe not, d-depends on how you look at it..."

"Well you're crying so I'm guessing that you're not doing too well."

"Maybe life has brought me down a bit and this is my way of showing it."

"Need a hug?"

Astro just nodded as he cried even louder and hiccuped in between.

Tenma opened the door and walked over to Astro.

Astro covered his face with his hands and sobbed into them.

Tenma wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

Astro hiccuped and continued to cry.

Tenma slowly rubbed his back.

Astro sniffled and wiped his nose with his arm

"I hope you know that I love you and I'll never let you leave again."

"Really?" Astro whispered, as if he was out of breath.

"Yes."

"If only I could say it back, i woul..." Astro's voice suddenly drained out.

He cried again.

He slowly closed his eyes before hiccuping a final time.

Towards the next day, not far past midnight, Astro was snuggled in bed with his journal and pen in one hand, and the other held an earbud that was jammed into his ear, still playing music slightly loud.

He snored.

Tenma not too long later after a fidgeting of many noises and voices, stormed into Astro's room.

"ASTRO."

Astro snored.

"Oh my god… ASTROOO!"

"Sssh Brianna, All Time Low is on..."

Tenma facepalmed and walked up to Astro, taking out the earbud from his ear.

"Gosh, just because I said I wouldn't have sex with you doesn't mean you gotta steal my music, sheesh!"

"... What the fuck?" Tenma whispered.

"Haha yeah, thats what i thought too, well better luck another day!"

"ASTRO." Tenma yelled in his ear.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Astro revolted with shock.

"It's an emergency." He said through his teeth.

"I THINK WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY I THINK WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY! IF YOU THOUGHT I'D LEAVE THEN YOU WERE WRONG 'CAUSE I WONT STOP HOLDING ON!"

"What…..?"

"And i forgot the rest of the song... Damnit..."

"Astro… This is important. I have to take Cindy to the hospital."

"Ooo how lovely, is she sick? Does she have cancer?"

"No! She's having the baby, you idi-..." Tenma took a step back while massaging his temples. "You behave. I'm going to have someone come here and pick you up to take you there in half an hour. Kapeesh?"

"WE COULD BE IMORRRRRRORRRRRRR IMORTALS IMMORRRRRORR IMORTALS!"

"I'll take that as a yes. See you later." Tenma rushed out the door.

"OH! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO OH!"

"Was he being difficult as usual?" Cindy looked at Tenma as he ran into the living room.

"Yes. Now let's go."

"Bill. Calm down. I'm fine."

"No. You're in labor You're not fine."

She rolled her eyes as he helped her out to the car.

Astro put his earbud back in and fell back to sleep as he heard the faint sound of a car recklessly driving away.

"Ok they're gone, I think I'll say yes now..."

Kaitlyn was sound asleep in her bed when she felt a strange vibration from her face. She slowly lifted her head up to see a notification on her phone, which had somehow made its way underneath her cheek.

"Who the heck is trying to talk to me in the middle of the night….."

_**Ten-Man -**_

_**Cindy's in labor. Need you to take Astro to the hospital.**_

"Who the hell is….. oh…. waaiiiitttttttttt…. HOLY SHIT."

She leaped out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants over her shorts and a flannel over her cami as she ran out the door. Kaitlyn jogged down the stairs as fast as possible and grabbed her keys. Before she knew it, she was out the front door and starting up her car to go grab Emi then rush over to Tenma's.

Astro was still asleep with his music even louder than before.

Someone else barged into his room.

"Mmmhmmm right there so blondie can see it when her white ass walks in here with the Mexican flag."

Kaitlyn walked up to Asto and pulled out his earbud.

"Miss me, bitch?" She said into his ear.

"If you mean what you have in those sweatpants, yes, but you in general, nope."

"You're disgusting as usual. Now get ready, we gotta go."

"Keep it wet and classy blondie, wet and classy." Astro put a pillow over his head.

She pulled the pillow away.

"Wet and classy."

"Get up and put on something nice. We. Have. To. Go. Right. Now."

"Wait, i have some important business to take care of in the bathroom." Astro said as he quickly walked away.

"Make it quick." Kaitlyn walked out the room and to the living room.

"Can't guarantee, sometimes it takes a while and other times it's faster!"

"Any more than 2 minutes, and you're dead."

"Tell that to my penis!" Astro slammed the bathroom door.

"Sass me again and you won't have one!" Kaitlyn yelled as she sat down on the couch.

Emily looked over at Kaitlyn with a look of shock.

"What?" Kaitlyn looked back over at her. "I'm not really gonna. It's just a threat."

Emily moved further away from Kaitlyn and to the other side of the couch. She tried not to doze off again.

Astro came out 7 minutes later.

"Oof, sorry about that, nothing seemed to be cooperating with me, and don't go in there it reeks of puberty..."

"... Are you ready to go now?"

Astro looked down.

"Are we ready to go now? Yes? Ok we're ready!"

"... You need help." Kaitlyn got up and walked over to the door.

"And you need couples counseling because we got a badass in sweatpants looking like a stripper, who the fuck you trying to attract hmmm? Some 6 foot jock with a british accent and more money than the government?"

"You make no sense… I get what you're saying. But it's the stupidest fucking thing I ever heard next to 'What's your sign?'."

"Hey, you see any clouds in the sky?"

"It's 1 o'clock at night….."

"Yeah, thats how many fucks I give, NADA!"

"Again… No sense….."

Kaitlyn opened the door.

"Let's go."

"But what if i wanna stay home and chug down root beers like the fatass i am?"

"Well you're not going to. You're going to the hospital with me and Emi."

"But i still wanna chug down root beer."

"You can do that at the hospital cafeteria. Let's go."

"But the food there is nasty!"

"Too bad."

"Bitch." Astro walked out the door in disgust.

Kaitlyn turned the light out and closed the door behind her as she followed him out.

After a few moments the door opened again.

"Shit shit shit. I forgot. Shit." Kaitlyn rushed in.

"EMI WAKE UP WE GOTTA GO!" She grabbed Emily by the wrist and pulled her off the couch.

"AHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Emily woke up and squirmed on the ground until she got to her feet.

"Come on Emi!" Kaitlyn dragged her out to the car.

"NOOOOOOO DERANGED TEEN DRAGGING ME OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"This isn't your house."

"NOOOOOOO DERANGED TEEN DRAGGING ME OUT OF MY GRANDMA's HOUSE!"

"This isn't….. Ugh. Just get in." Kaitlyn facepalmed as she opened the car door

Emily sluggishly walked in and knocked out as soon as she sat down.

"Oh look, the Mexican flag decided to tag along, how lovely!" Astro sarcastically exclaimed.

"Don't be racist." Kaitlyn said as she got in the driver's seat.

"Oh, and like _you_ aren't..."

"I'm not…. When was I ever racist?"

"Mmmhmmm says the one who dated two white ass retardo redheads in a row!"

"And that makes me _racist_?"

"Yup, because you refuse to expand your horizons and stick with white ass trash..."

"First of all, just because who I date is white doesn't mean I can't ever date someone of another race. Second, don't call my boyfriend retarded. He's more mature than you or Reno will ever be."

"Oh so you got an upgrade from Reno the pervert... Niceeee, i hear he's the classy type, im sure you'd make _fine_ babies!"

"Maybe I'm not interested in _sex. Ever._"

"Then I'm sure you'll make poor decisions in life and become one heck of a grouchy old couple."

"He respects my choice, Astro. Stop being an asshole."

"Oh yeah sure he does, and he buys you things and takes you places and never says a word, its just silence."

"Silence is golden. Now shut up before I slap you."

"Pffffft, I'm just saying you know... Sometimes life can hurt you so bad, you get used to when it's coming..."

"My life is different from yours and you shouldn't concern yourself with it anyways. Have you ever heard of privacy? Yeah. It exists."

"Yeah i did, until you invaded mine a year ago."

"I never did."

"Oh yeah, like that little journal you read was as public as the news..."

"Me and Emi only looked in it because everyone thought you were dead. We were scared because you were gone. And only me, her, and Elefun read it."

"But then, how did it get out, no one tells a story like i do, so its easy to pick it out from a crowd of people scolding me for being an ass when GODDAMNIT THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID!"

"THEY KNOW THAT THEY HURT ME AND THEY LIKE IT, THATS WHY THEY TELL THE STORY OVER AND OVER AGAIN BECAUSE NO ONE CAN TELL IT LIKE I CAN SO THEY STAB IT IN MY THROAT?!"

"NO ONE WANTS TO HURT YOU! IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD!"

Astro sighed and brought his knees up to his chest, not saying a word.

Kaitlyn took in a deep breath.

"People make mistakes. You shouldn't live them down for it. We're allowed to change and make up for our mistakes. Forgive and forget."

"I hope you get in a car accident and we all die." Astro muttered.

"I hope you grow up and finally get a dose of reality."

"You're a bitch okay! A big, fat, ugly bitch! And your words of wisdom are nothing but shit! And i hope your mister right deals with all your bullshit because i can't. You try reasoning with me when it won't work, you try shaping me into something you think the world would be proud of! Well I'll never be that way, I'll never grow up and get a taste of what you call reality, I'll forever be here in my corner balling my eyes out like a three year old, because thats who i am and that's what i do best!"

"I only do what I do because I care. It may not come out as nice or loving like you expect because you can't be babied forever. So I'll just stop caring. I'll stop caring about everything."

"Fine, don't care, you can go hold Atom's hand while you're at it because clearly he enjoys you more!"

"At least he knows what respect is." Kaitlyn started up the car.

"Well maybe he does, but how far do you think he's gonna get? I mean look at him, what does he do all day to benefit himself?! All he does is stay in his room and read a stupid book! Hows that gonna get him a job, no one's gonna hire you just because you read a whole book series and caught up on TV shows!"

"What he does is none of your concern…. Let's not argue about this. If we both love Atom, we won't talk about him."

"Well then, better get my speech ready..."

"Save it for when you win something." She jerked the car then pulled out of the driveway,

"Or maybe I'll wait till your funeral, make things a bit more sadder if he shows up..."

"Have it your way. Remember, I don't care anymore."

Astro folded his arms and rested his head against the window.

About 15 minutes of silence later they made it to the hospital. Kaitlyn parked the car and woke Emily up.

"AHHHHHH DERANGED TEEN WAKING ME FROM MY SLUMBER!" She exclaimed.

"Oh my god. Just shut up and get out of the car."

"Yes mommy…." Emily said as she sluggishly got out of the car.

Astro was sitting in the backseat and fumbled with his hands while giggling.

Astro was in the backseat fumbling around with his fingers and giggling.

"And what are you laughing at?"

"My imagination of the many things I can do with these fingers of mine, hehe…"

"I'm just going to ignore that." Kaitlyn mumbled as she got out of the car

"Hey! Hey! You have fingers too! maybe you can start laughing at the many things they can do too!" Astro sounded as if he were drunk.

She opened the door for him. "How about no."

"WHEEEEEEE!" Astro exclaimed while running around aimlessly.

"If this is what it's like to have children then I'm glad I'm asexual." She said to herself as she walked towards the entrance with Emily following close behind her.

"Hey vachina! Wait for meeeeeee!" Astro hollered out to Kaitlyn.

"Shhh. We're out in public don't go around yelling that shit."

"But you're my best bud-ey." Astro replied.

"Did something in your brain break or something?"

"I dunno, I'm a drunkard and I had a few root beers today!"

"Maybe I can talk a nurse into giving you a sedative or something…."

"Whatever floats your boat, you don't give a shit anyways! hehe!"

"Oh yeah. That's right! Well you can go walk in front of a moving car or something then. I don't care."

"Well then tell Citizen I love him and i'll see you later!" Astro walked away and looked for a moving car.

"No. seriously. Come over here. The doors are right up there and we need to be in there in the next couple minutes."

"HAHA BEING DRUNK IS FUN!" Astro yelled.

Suddenly Astro felt a bit woozy and passed out before stepping off the sidewalk.

"Shit. At least I won't have to talk to any nurses then…. wait… i probably will. shit again then." Kaitlyn turned around and picked up Astro.

Soon the three of them got inside of the hospital.

Kaitlyn sat Astro down on a chair and Emily sat in the seat next to him.

"Hello?" Kaitlyn tried to get the attention of the lady at the desk after walking up to her.

"Oh! Um yes, how can I help you?" she replied.

"We're here to visit a patient. Name is Tenma."

"Hmmm… well let's see here um…."

"Oh yes. Tenma. He said he was expecting two teenagers to be here. That must be you and….."

"Well there's actually three of us. Is that ok?"

"Ah… Well…. I'll have to make a call to the doctor there and have him speak to Mr. Tenma. So you'll have to wait a few minutes."

"Oh. That's fine…. I'll just go wait….. Over there…." Kaitlyn awkwardly walked away.

"What are you gonna do about Astro?" Emily asked.

"You have any sunglasses?" Kaitlyn looked at her as she sat down on the other side of Astro.

"Yeah…..."

"At home." Emily smiled.

"Aw. Well I guess we could try drawing eyes over his eyelids."

"Well then you take a crack at it, my art skills are nothing that should be publically displayed till the day I die…"

"Oh wait…. I think there's a sunglasses rack over there. Imma just go and look."

"You sure Tenma would be fooled? I mean how is he gonna like move and stuff?"

"I don't care about fooling Tenma. I just don't want people questioning why two teenage girls are carrying a sleeping kid through a hospital."

"Hmm true, but then what _are _you gonna tell him?"

"He's used to Astro knocking out at random times. This'll be nothing to him."

"No I mean like telling him he was drunk…."

"He wasn't really drunk. And I'm sure Tenma's used to that too."

"Wait you mean he wasn't? That liar!"

"I can't believe this is new to you."

"so what do you mean, he _acted _like he was drunk?"

"Yeah."

"I bet you that root beer is to blame, he always gets like that when he drinks it, and then Briana acts like she's annoyed of it but then like encourages him and then they get caught up in shizz and it gets really disgusting and i'm gonna shut up now…."

"Well if they want to be delinquents they can. Not my problem…. well it kinda is… considering I can't go to the park anymore without being shamed."

"Really? What happened?"

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't think you ever told me…."

"Oh. Well it was kinda a thing I wanted to be private at the time…."

"Oh… well what went down? Was it _that _bad?"

"Kinda."

"Gee, what could they have possibly done?"

"I guess I'll just tell you. Me and Brandon were at the park. Just strolling down the trails. We took a little break and sat down on the bench. I sorta got him to talk more than usual, which is progress….. Well he finally reached over and held my hand, when asshole one and asshole two came out of nowhere and drowned us in water then went running through the place yelling that me and him were making out…..."

"Ouch! That's gotta stink…."

"Yup. That progress …. down the drain…. Everything with me and Brandon is gonna be even _slower_ now. And I thought our relationship was taking long enough already..."

Kaitlyn got a text on her phone from Brandon:

**Sorry, can't make it to tell you goodbye, have to get up bright and early to do community service at the animal shelter.**

"Oooo, a text!" Emily exclaimed.

"Great….." Kaitlyn faked a smile.

"Look i'm sure you can get even with them, like I dunno, spread a nasty rumor about them!"

"And stoop down to their level?! Never!"

"Well they did screw up your reputation, so it'd make sense to screw up theirs…"

"I'm not a monster, Emi."

"I never said you were."

"Well I don't want to be one either."

"Well then what else can you do, if they see you don't act on it they'll keep doing it, but if you put them in their place, they should stop or they are just cold hearted meanie heads!"

"They would never stop. Even if Brianna wanted to, she would still be influenced somehow by Astro to keep doing it."

"Hmmm, you make a good point."

"It's time to face the facts. Try and be the good kid, and things just aren't gonna go well for ya. Whoever it is that's writing my life story right now must really hate me."

"Well I mean not everyone is bad, I mean look at Atom, he loves you unconditionally and is extremely devoted to you. So i'm sure he'd hear you out and stuff."

"What's that gonna do?"

"Well maybe he could help you? I dunno, i'm not Atom."

"It's really not worth trying at this point. Nothing ever goes the way I want it to. My life is just some ironic joke."

Emily sighed.

"Well then I can't help you, I don't know why you dragged me into this anyway, all I wanted was to get some rest for the night, I didn't ask to be whisked away because some black-haired lady was having a baby!"

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to do what's right. I thought you were a part of the family, is all." Kaitlyn brought her knees up to her chest.

"Well this family is effed up." Emily folded her arms and huffed.

"I know…." Kaitlyn hid her face.

Emily got up and walked outside, leaving Astro and Kaitlyn to themselves in the waiting room with all the other people waiting.

Kaitlyn sighed and tried to go back to sleep.

Her phone vibrated again. She opened one of her eyes and looked over at it. She picked it up and answered the phone.

"Kaitlyn!" The voice sounded excited and energetic.

"Yes?"

"Just thought I'd call my best buddy in the whole wide world at 1 in the morning!"

"Oh. Cool."

"But don't tell the professor i'm awake, he doesn't like it when i'm up past 9…."

She let out a halfhearted chuckle..

"So just wanted to say I love you and all that good stuff you know." it sounded like the voice's voice cracked.

"Well I love you too."

"I-I… I'm sure you… do."

"Mmmhmmm."

"I just…. I never thought people were…. so...cruel."

"You'd be surprised how rare it is to find someone who's truly kindhearted."

"Kaitlyn... I don't think I want to be here anymore..."

"Its hard to see the good in people when they keep hurting and taking advantage of you..."

"And i have a pretty tough heart to break, but I think they've managed to shatter it before my eyes..."

"Kaitlyn, why are people so cruel?"

"W- why do people hate me? Why do they say such terrible things?!"

"I… Atom…. Atom, people don't hate you."

"Well of course they do, obviously when even your own family tries to dig under your skin and torture you, make jokes about, tell you terrible things to scare you, who in their right mind does that?!"

"I don't know, Atom. I don't know. And I wish I did because I would put an end to all of this crap if I could. But I've tried and tried again and nothing works." Kaitlyn's voice almost cracked.

"Maybe they wouldn't notice if I was gone."

"No. No they would notice."

"Well they hate me!"

"THEY DON'T."

"Kaitlyn I need help. I need help, i'm not okay!"

"I know. I know."

Atom bursted into tears and almost threw his phone at the wall.

"Atom. Please just calm down. I'll try to fix this, ok? I'll try even harder than before. I'll make things right once and for all. I promise."

Atom nodded as he covered his face with his hand.

Kaitlyn sighed.

Atom couldn't even speak.

It sounded like someone had barged into Atom's room before the call went silent.

"Atom?" Kaitlyn whispered.

((END OF PART TWO!))


	14. Part 3

No response.

She sighed again as she turned the screen off on her phone.

"We really are effed up, aren't we?..."

Astro suddenly woke up.

"Where's Atom?" He asked.

"At his house."

"Oh gawd." Astro panicked a little.

"Why are you even asking?"

"I dunno, I just got the strangest feeling like he was in some sort of danger…"

"I'm sure he's fine."

"Oh…. well… alright then…" Astro sounded a tad confused but took in the information anyways.

Kaitlyn sighed again as she hid her face.

"It's just so weird, never happened before, guess I'm still drunk again, hehe…."

"Drop the act, Astro." Her voice sounded muffled.

"what you thought I was _acting_? No no no, I wasn't acting, root beer makes me loopy and shit."

"That's just the caffeine. You can only get 'drunk' on alcohol. And you'll die if you drink that."

"But you see, i'm a robot, so it's a bit different for me…"

"Whatever."

"I still don't get how that could have happened, maybe if I quickly went over and visite-" Astro tried getting up but Kaitlyn stopped him.

"Can't you sit still?"

"Not when Atom is in danger!"

"He's fine. Atom is strong enough to fend for himself, if there even _is_ a danger. We can just wait until tomorrow. If he's not ok, we'll know by then."

"But what if he's trying to kill himself, you don't know?!"

Kaitlyn stared at Astro for a moment then sighed.

"Fine…." She let Astro go and put her head back down, trying not to cry.

Astro gladly walked away and left the hospital.

"Hi Emily." He greeted.

"Nachos on cheese, nachos on cheese, nachos on cheese."

"Oh…..kay den…." He awkwardly walked away from her before taking off into the sky.

"HEY I'M TRYING TO COME UP WITH THE WORLD'S MOST ANNOYING SONG, HAVE SOME RESPECT?!" Emily yelled.

When Astro got to Elefun's house, he busted the door down and ran inside.

"NOOOOOO!" Astro ran for Atom and tackled him.

"Atom please don't do this to yourself, don't throw your life down the drain!" Tears streamed down Astro's face.

" bottle. Down!"

Atom slowly put the bottle down onto the ground.

"You're okay. You're okay." Astro put his arms around Atom and slowly rubbed his back.

Atom put his arms tightly around Astro and cried into his shoulder.

"ATOM YOU KNOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN BED RIGHT NOW!" yelled a voice from upstairs.

"Oh shut your damn mouth you faggot asshole!" Astro yelled back.

"Astro?"

"YEAH IT'S ME YOU IDIOT, CAN'T YOU SEE YOUR SON IS TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF?!"

Astro slowly picked Atom up and walked with him outside.

"Ssh ssh ssh, it's okay, you're coming with me to see Kaitlyn and Emily in the hospital." Astro said as he walked holding Atom along the way.

"A-are they ok?" Atom asked.

"Yes, they're fine, they're just there to visit Citizen and Cindy because she's having the baby."

"Oh. T-that's nice." Atom yawned.

"Mmmhmm." Astro nodded.

"Mr. Tenma, the receptionist says the kids you were waiting for are here."

"Oh. Good. They're finally here." Tenma smiled at the doctor that walked into their room.

"I'll go down and get them." He looked over at Cindy.

She nodded as he let go of her hand and got up.

"You keep.. um… doing what you're doing…." He said to the doctor and nurse before rushing out of the room.

He walked out into the lobby and didn't see Astro or Kaitlyn.

"Did you see a blonde girl about yey high," he held his hand up to Kaitlyn's height. "And a blackhaired boy with spiky hair come in here?" Tenma asked the receptionist.

"Oh… um…. yeah..." She looked up.

"Do you know where they are?"

"Hmmm…. the one kid left….. but…. that girl is over… there…." She pointed to where Kaitlyn was sitting. She still had her knees up to her chest and her face was buried in them, showing only a blanket of hair over a strange looking pile of clothes.

"Is she ok?"

"I dunno." The woman shrugged her shoulder.

"Wow…. Thanks for the help." Tenma said sarcastically as he walked over to Kaitlyn.

"Kaitlyn?…. Are you alright?" He kneeled down in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder.

She shuddered slightly at his touch and slowly shook her head.

"No? Whats wrong?"

She lifted her head up with tears streaming down her cheeks

"I-I… I just….." Her lip quivered as she tried to speak.

Tenma put his free hand on her other shoulder.

"What happened? Where's Astro?" He looked more and more concerned as he spoke.

"A-Atom…. A-Atom was in d-danger and A-astro went to help him I th-think." Kaitlyn's words hiccupped as she spoke and sniffled.

"Are they ok?"

"Y-yeah. I think so."

"Then why are you so upset." Tenma tried to smile.

"I-I tried to make e-everything right. B-But Astro left. And Emily doesn't w-wanna be here and she left too. I-I wanted us to be together! Like a family! L-Like the family we are! And I-I failed! I failed again! I just wanna fix things. Make them right so everyone's happy! But it never works! IT NEVER DOES!" kaitlyn began sobbing.

"Shh shh shh." Tenma pulled her close and put his arms around her.

"It's ok. You don't need to do all that. It's too much for you."

"B-But no one else is gonna do it..."

"I've been trying, too. But something like this takes a long time. And this is only the beginning."

Kaitlyn sniffled.

"Oh look who came back!" Tenma looked up with a grin..

Astro walked in with Atom on his shoulder.

"Tried to kill himself with alcohol, I told you he was in danger!"

Kaitlyn looked up at them and started crying again.

"Luckily I got there before he could open the bottle, he's asleep now but i'd get him help just in case….." Astro looked at Tenma.

Tenma nodded.

"He should be ok for now. You can just sit him down there." He looked at a nearby chair.

Astro gently sat him down.

"GUYS I THINK I CREATED THE WORLD'S MOST ANNOYING SONG!" Emily yelled as she stormed back into the hospital.

Everyone in the room stared at her.

"See? I'm gonna be famous!"

Kaitlyn sniffled.

She couldn't help but burst out laughing. For a minute the only sound in the lobby was her hysterical chuckling.

Emily laughed back and sat down next to her.

Kaitlyn slowly stopped.

"You know, I still don't get how I was able to sense that…" Astro thought out loud.

"Sense what?" Emily looked over at him.

"That Atom was trying to kill himself…." Astro sniffled.

"He's such a great person, he doesn't deserve to die…." Astro began to sob.

He sighed before rubbing his eye and folding his arms.

"Hmmm?" Atom slowly opened his eyes.

"Wh-where am I?" he asked.

Tenma let go of Kaitlyn and stood up.

"You're at the hospital." He said.

"Oh, so Kaitlyn got me help like I asked?"

"I-I….." She began to say but just glared over at Atom with a blank look.

Atom chuckled.

"You okay there?" he asked.

"Uh… Y-yeah..." She looked down at the floor.

"Whoo, they must have knocked me up with something, everything is just so blurry like and loopy hehe…"

"Maybe i'm not better off dead 'cause I got the bestest friend evaaaaa!" Atom loosely waved his arms to point at Kaitlyn.

She buried her head again.

"I… I didn't really-… I….."

"Didn't what? Take out the trash, stink stinky, well you better go catch it before it runs off! HAHA!"

"No… It's…. nothing. It's nothing…."

"No no, you forgot to throw out the trash, just admit it, we're not gonna judge!"

"_I'm_ trash." She whispered.

"Haha, you know you're pretty, right Kaitlyn? The prettiest of all da pretty!"

"Atom… just….."

"What? You want me to throw out the trash for you, I can do that! Just tell me where it is and i'll have it at the dump in no timeeeeee!"

Kaitlyn stood up.

"Atom. Just stop. You're wasting your time."

She walked over to him.

"I'm a terrible terrible person. I told Astro to stay here. I was more concerned about waiting then your safety. I should have known….."

"So you didn't get me the helpy welpy?"

"I'm sorry I betrayed you. I just… I thought everything was fine. I always try to convince myself nothing is going to happen when I know I'm really scared of everything all the time." Kaitlyn hugged her shoulders and started to walk away.

"Haha, wish I could cry but this stuff i'm hooked on really is taking an effect on me…"

Tenma walked over to Kaitlyn and put his hand on her shoulder again

"Well everyone's here now. Even Atom, who is alive and well." He said.

"Haha, and don't tell Elefun- I mean don't tell the professor i'm awake or he's gonna yell at me that i'm up past 9, silly doctor!"

"Yes. But not the way I wanted it to be. It's like most of you were forced here." Kaitlyn looked at Emily, Atom, and Astro. "And it's all my fault."

"No no wait, we gotta _pinky_ promise, that makes it a bit more risky if you try to break it, unless you're okay with chopping off your pinky!"

"ATOM! JUST STOP! OK?!" Kaitlyn yelled out.

Atom looked at her and the smiled on his face quickly faded.

"K-Kaitlyn…" he sounded disappointed.

Her face turned from anger to fear.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't… I just… I can't….. I'm sorry for everything." She ran out the hospital doors.

Atom looked down at the ground and didn't say a word.

"G-guys I think the stuff wore off, can you ask for another dose…" Atom's eyes watered.

Tenma shook his head then sighed.

Atom brought his knees up to his chest and started crying again

He soon got up and walked outside.

He sat down on a bench.

"I like the trees, these ones are really pretty…"

"It's really dark outside, don't you think?"

"Well of course Atom, of course it is."

"Thank you me, you understand me…."

"Oh and uh…. uh…. yeah that's all I gotta say about nature…"

"You could go back inside."

"Yes! Thank you me for reminding me, I'll just go look for Kaitlyn and then go back inside and have a casual conversation with Tenma!" Atom got up from the bench.

Kaitlyn was nowhere to be found.

"Oh well, she probably just went home and had some tea to lift her spirits." Atom walked back inside of the hospital.

"Was Kaitlyn out there?" Tenma asked him.

"No, I didn't see her, but I had a lovely conversation with myself about nature." Atom smiled.

"Was her car still there?"

"Car? Oooh I never checked the cars, yeah, maybe I should have tried that…."

"Can you go-"

"I'll go check..." Astro butted in.

"No no no no, wait. _you _wanna go look for her car? Astro I think the last time you tried looking for something it took you a whole month, and that was just for a pair of pants!"

"Just... Let me go check."

"Well you did just save me from suicide, hey why not?"

Astro smiled and walked out the doors.

He walked through the parking lot and to where Kaitlyn had parked. Her car was still there.

"What?..." He looked around confused then shrugged and walked back to the hospital.

"BLONDIE?! YOU OUT HERE?!" He called as he got closer.

"so hows the weather?" Atom asked Tenma after sitting down next to him.

"Um. Fine, I guess." Tenma shrugged.

"Hmmm yeah, I think it was fine too, i mean how should I know I never went outside today, but i'm pretty good at guessing."

"But you were just..."

"And over the Summer, I wanna go volunteer at the Metro City news, they say volunteering look good on your record!"

"Oh. That's nice."

"Yup, gonna be exciting!"

"YO BLONDIE! IF YOU'RE DEAD, ATOMS GONNA BE EVEN MORE SAD THEN WHEN YOU ALMOST LETTING HIM DIE. BLONDIEEEEE."

"I'm up here, dumbass!" Kaitlyn called out from the roof.

"And then next weekend i'm going to the bookstore because I _love_ reading! and ummmm, what else, ummm….." Atom thought for a moment.

"I love reading too." Tenma smiled.

"Oh yes, book are awesome!"

"Yes they are."

"Hmmm, well this is nice ummmm…. other father and his other son bonding time, if I do say so myself…"

"Haha. Yes." Tenma ruffled Atom's hair.

"What the actual hell are you doing up there?!" Astro yelled up to Kaitlyn.

"Sitting. What else do you think I would be doing on the edge of a three-story... Oh..."

"I already almost lost Atom today, and i'm not gonna lose you no matter how much of an ugly fat stinky bitch you are…."

"I'm not going to jump off. I just came up here to be alone. OK?" She put her head between her knees again.

Astro flew up and sat next to her.

"I can't possibly go back in there." She muttered.

"So uh… if they never gave me anything, why was I so loopy?" Atom asked.

"I'm not sure." Tenma looked at him.

"Hmmm.. strange…But- but you know what would be funny?"

"What?"

"If Kaitlyn really did forget to throw out her trash!" Atom laughed.

"I'm sure she didn't." Tenma chuckled.

"Why not?" Astro looked at Kaitlyn.

"I made everyone come here. And that was a terrible idea. This is such an important day but now everyone's upset. And it's all my doing. And I can't fix it either." She looked down.

"Hey. Remember what you told me earlier?"

"What about it?"

"Well you were talking crap about privacy and shiz and you were trying to convince me that those a-holes don't actually hate my ass. And you said that people make mistakes... and that they shouldn't be held down… or something… because of it… and there's one thing you said. Forge or fondu? Wtf was it again?"

"Forgive and forget." Kaitlyn lifted her head up.

"Yeah. Everyone down there is happy now. they will forgive you. And everyone will forget. You make mistakes, remember? Don't let that be something people always remember about you. You can change, right?" Astro looked at Kaitlyn with a smile. "Come back down when you're ready."

He flew back down to the ground.

"You know, I'm glad Astro came, who knows what could have happened to me if he didn't show up…." Atom looked over at Tenma.

"I'm not sure. You might have been dead." Tenma slowly responded.

"Well, I assure you, i'm gonna be a better person! I'm gonna have a positive attitude and mindse- wait aren't I already like that? Woooowwwww… Well Tenma I think i'm screwed." Atom chuckled.

Tenma chuckled. "You just need to value your life more."

"Yep, which is why tomorrow i'm treating myself to that new fro-yo place that just opened up!" Atom smiled.

"That's sounds like fun."

"Oooo and all the flavors and toppings they have! Eeek!"

Astro walked back inside.

"Astro!" Atom happily greeted.

"Sup." He greeted back.

"I was just talking to Tenma, and I never noticed we had so much in common!"

"Did you see her car?" Tenma looked over at him.

"Um... No. No I did not see her car. She might've just left to go cool off or something. Might be back. I dunno."

"Oh. Well I hope she comes back soon. I know her and she wouldn't miss being here for the world." Tenma stood up.

"Just think happy thoughts! oops!" Atom covered his mouth after blurting something out.

"I-I did not mean to say that out loud." He said, shaking his head.

"Oh that's OK, Atom. I'm sure we all needed the reminder anyway." Tenma walked over to the watercooler.

"Hmmmm, I guess it's not so bad then, it kinda embarrassed me a little though." Atom blushed.

Kaitlyn took in a deep breath.

"I'm done being scared." She whispered to herself.

"They'll forgive and forget... More importantly you need to forgive yourself."

She stood up.

"Let's see ummmm…. do you like salad?" Atom asked.

"Hmm. Pretty much." Tenma responded.

"No." Astro said.

"So uhhhh, how's the family going, heard Astro tell me someone new is coming?"

"Yes. Very soon." Tenma smiled.

"Yeah. They're adopting some stupid kid from Germany. And he speaks swedish. Like wut the heck Dad. We barely even know English." Astro butted in.

"Well babies are really cute, but I don't think me and Stephen plan on raising children, we'd make terrible fathers, but aside from that, they're still adorable to me.."

"Yes. Children can be a handful. But once you get over the diaper changes and getting up at 3 in the morning, it's actually quite nice."

"I bet I was even worse." Astro laughed.

Atom laughed back.

"It's true. Now it's going to be like having two infants in the house." Tenma smirked.

"Hahaha, it's nice you get to live the dream life, I gotta live by strict rules and keep the house tidy, which I don't mind because I am a neat person myself, but sometimes those rules can get pretty harsh…"

"Elefun isn't really good at handling children. All these years must be wearing him thin."

"Well I still think he's a good person, just like I think Astro's a good person even though just last week he threatened to give me a wedgie, which I will say, is not as bad as it seems…."

"Well you did try and steal one of my crackers. And that's not cool." Astro pouted.

"No no no, it's not called _stealing _it's called kindly telling your brother if you eat anymore you're gonna get fat like Santa Claus…."

"No. You took the box right of my hands. And according to the laws, that's stealing."

"Well maybe i'm helping you get over your crack addiction, you never know…"

"That's one of the few things you can't take away from me. My dignity, my Brianna, and my crackers. If you do, there will be consequences."

"And your urge to be a pervert in public…"

"That too."

"Well Tenma I wish you the best of luck raising two infants in your household, and if you need a call, don't call on the weekends and holidays, i'm busy having bonding time with Stephen, but i'm available any other day of the week!"

"Thank you. And I'll be sure to take note of that." Tenma nodded.

The hospital doors slid open again.

Kaitlyn walked in and nervously made her way over to where everyone was sitting.

"Hi bestie!" Atom greeted as he waved his hand.

"Hi." Kaitlyn tried to smile.

"I was just talking to Tenma and Astro. Did you know Tenma's having a new edition in his family, babies are just the cutest things…"

"Yeah. Why else would I be here."

"Oh, haha, silly me." Atom chuckled.

"Oh, looks like Emi fell asleep, poor her, she must be really tired…."

"Hmm." Kaitlyn looked over at her.

"She's so cute when she sleeps." Atom smiled.

"Atom..."

"What- oooh, you want me to compliment you too? Well…."

"N-no. I... I just wanna say I'm sorry."

"Oh…." Atom looked down.

"Of course I forgive you!" Atom hugged her tightly with a huge smile.

Kaitlyn smiled back.

"I'm sorry to you too, Tenma. And also you, Astro." She said over Atom's shoulder.

"So uh, what exactly are we waiting for?" Atom asked.

"What do you mean?" Kaitlyn let go of Atom.

"Well obviously we're waiting for something because we're in the _waiting_ room and not the _stay_ room, heh? heh? am I good at making puns or not?"

Kaitlyn giggled. "Silly, we're waiting for-"

"Oh my god, I can't believe I forgot." Tenma interrupted. "We need to get back upstairs quick."

"Well shit, Tenma. Good job." Kaitlyn said sarcastically.

"For a moment I thought he was gonna say he forgot to throw out his trash, but nevermind…."

"Come on, kids. Let's go." Tenma walked over towards the elevator.

"Actually we have one young adult, one infant, one child and a teen. to be exact."

"There's no time to be exact." Kaitlyn rushed over to Tenma's side.

"But wait, what about Emi?" Atom looked back after catching up with the others.

"Oh my god." Kaitlyn ran back over.

"EMILY WAKE UP."

"NACHOS ON CHEESE, NACHOS ON CHEESE!"

"OK. She's awake." Kaitlyn grabbed her wrist and pulled her back over.

"Nachos on cheese?" Atom looked at Tenma.

"She's probably on something." Kaitlyn dragged Emily into the elevator.

"Ooo, I wonder if it was the same one I was on?"

"Just get in." She held the door open.

Atom happily walked into the elevator.

"Astro. You too." Tenma looked over at Astro.

"Pffft I'd much rather teleport, but they don't make those for the public yet, stupid asshole scientist!" Astro folded his arms

"Ugh." Kaitlyn ran back over and picked Astro up.

"Now this is what I call A five-star hospital!"

"Shut up or I'll drop you." Kaitlyn walked back to the elevator. She let astro down then walked in.

"OK. Everyone's here." Tenma looked at the others.

"Oh wait I think I forgot my- oh no that's at home, I'm good!" Atom smiled.

"Good." Tenma closed the door and hit the "2" button.

The elevator jerked to a start then started going up.

"Thank you." Kaitlyn whispered into Astro's ear.

"Sure. Whatever Blondie."

Atom moved around a little until he faced Kaitlyn.

"Hi! Kaitlyn, wanna hear a _secret_?" Atom asked.

"Um. Sure."

Atom got really close to her ear and whispered in it.

"I. Like. Pie." He giggled after he whispered it to her.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Me too!" She whispered back

"Eeek!" Atom exclaimed.

The elevator soon opened.

"Over here." Tenma led the others down the hall then down another hallway.

"Sir, we need you in here right now!" The doctor from earlier peaked out of a room and motioned for Tenma to come to him.

"Ok. You guys just sit out here. I'll be back out soon." Tenma pointed to a row of chairs outside the room.

"Yeah go ummmm…. what superhero name should we give Tenma?" Atom asked

"Ten Man? I already call him that anyways." Kaitlyn shrugged.

"Go Ten Man! Whoooooo!" Atom cheered Tenma on.

Tenma chuckled then followed the doctor back into the hospital room.

"So do you plan on having any kids, Kaitlyn?"

"I'm not sure." She sat down in one of the seats.

"Well me and Stephen agreed on not raising any kids because we also agreed we'd make terrible fathers, which I have no problem with, but kids are so adorable!"

"Well that's your choice. And I'm sure one of your friends will have kids someday so you can always watch them or something."

"Yeah, like maybe your kids if you have any, or Astro's ki-"

"No."

"Or Astro's ki-"

"No."

"Or someone else's kids!"

"Yup." Kaitlyn smiled.

"You know it's been awhile since I've seen Stephen, it'd be nice to just hear his voice one-" Atom was cut off by a yawn.

"One more time."

"He's such a sweetheart, but I tend to refrain from complimenting him because he blushes easily and it doesn't look too well on a person with super pale skin…."

Kaitlyn giggled.

"He reminds me of you…" Atom looked at Kaitlyn and smiled.

She smiled back.

Atom rested his head on her shoulder.

"I'm glad i'm not dead, there's too many people i'd be leaving behind and things I would never get to do if I quit now…."

"I'm so sorry. If I had known... I would never want you to die..."

"It's okay Kaitlyn, people make mistakes, you just need to forgive and forget…"

She looked over at Atom but he had fallen asleep.

He adjusted his head position and snored.

She smiled again.

A quite sum of time had passed before Atom had woken up again.

He looked up at Kaitlyn.

"Morning! Wait is it morning? I dunno!"

"Well. It's 3 am. Is that morning?" She yawned.

"Maybe, sometimes I go to bed at this time…."

"Hmmmmm." She almost dozed off, but jerked her head back up."

"Here, turn around." Atom spoke.

Kaitlyn turned around.

Atom lifted both his hands up and slowly began massaging Kaitlyn's shoulders.

"Oh. Thanks."

"Sometimes this keeps me awake, or sometimes I make myself coffee or splash cold water on my face."

"Yeah..."

"Your hair looks really pretty. Kinda makes me wish I was a girl so I could play with my hair all day and do all kinds of stuff with it."

"Thanks. But its kinda a pain."

"Really? Hmmm.. interesting…"

"Yup."

Atom giggled.

"You know Kaitlyn, I'm proud of you!"

"Really?"

"Yeah I'm super duper uber proud of you!"

"Oh! Thanks!"

"I'm so proud of you that I wanna throw you a surpris- Uhhhhh, di-did I say that out loud? Silly me…"

Kaitlyn chuckled.

Atom put his arms around her and held her tightly.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered back.

Atom chuckled and turned around to see Astro staring at the two of them with a look of disgust and horror.

"Oh come on, we're just friends, right Kaitlyn?" Atom asked.

"Yup."

"You see Astro, nothing to worry about!"

"He wish he had a friendship as close as ours."

"Hmmm, maybe so…"

Atom spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper.

"You wanna hear a real secret?"

"Sure."

"One time I had a weird dream where we kissed, and when I woke up i felt so strange….."

"... Weird..."

"I know right, that's bananas…"

"Completely bonkers."

"But incase you were wondering, it was actually because of a dare at this weird sleepover i have no idea how we got invited."

"Hmmmmm."

"But you can't tell anyone about that ok? Not even Emily or Ten Man…"

"Yup! Pinky promise."

"Ok, if you tell someone, you better chop off your pinky!"

"Sure thing."

Atom giggled.

Tenma opened the door and walked out wearing scrubs.

He sighed and wiped his forehead.

Everyone looked up at him. (Kaitlyn had to poke Emily in the side with her elbow to wake her up, though.)

"Well?" Kaitlyn asked him.

"It's a girl." He smiled.

Atom's eyes widen with excitement.

Kaitlyn jumped up and hugged Tenma as they both laughed.

"I'd hug him too, but I get sick easily so I don't want his germs affecting me…"

"Don't worry. I'm germ-free." Tenma chuckled.

"Really? Yeeeeee!" Atom ran up to Tenma for a hug.

Tenma looked up. "Astro?"

"Nah, i'm good."

"Fine then."

Tenma hugged Kaitlyn and Atom a little tighter before letting go.

"I'll be right back." He slipped back into the room.

A few minutes he came back out without the scrubs.

"Come on in." He opened the door.

Atom stuck his hands in his pockets and walked inside, with everyone else following behind.

Cindy was laying in a hospital bed, her smile almost as big as Tenma's. She cradled a small bundle of cloth in her arms.

"Hi." She greeted everyone with a whisper.

Atom quickly waved at her and stuffed his hand back in his pocket.

Kaitlyn walked up to the bed with Tenma. Emily stood behind her.

Astro sat down in a chair, Atom sat down next to him.

Cindy looked up at all of them.

"Would you like to meet the newest member of the family?"

Kaitlyn nodded her head excitedly

"No." Astro began.

Kaitlyn snapped her her head over at him and gave him "the look".

"No."

"The look" intensified.

Astro continued to search through things on his phone.

"Way to spoil the mood." She muttered before moving her head back over.

"You're welcome." Astro smiled.

"Do babies have germs?" Atom whispered to Astro.

"Everything has germs."

"Well I'm screwed."

"If you aren't exposed to things, you'll never become immune to them." Kaitlyn looked over at Atom.

"But then I get really sick and Elefun sends me to the hospital, and it's not fun there, at least not the one I go to…"

"You'll be fine here, Atom."

"Well I guess i'll try…" Atom stood up and walked over next to Kaitlyn.

Tenma nodded to Cindy.

"This is Millie. Millie Tenma." She said as she moved the blanket so that the baby's face was showing.

"She's beautiful!" Kaitlyn looked at her in awe

"Wow, you know you could have went with something like Sally or Lucy, or Pritchett but Millie? Wow…. this is exactly why I hate parenthood and i'm not even a parent." Astro butted in.

"Astro..." Tenma looked over at him.

"Yes, citizen?" Astro looked up from his phone.

"Don't."

"K, anyone know where the bathroom is, I need to pee…"

"Down the hall. Third door to the left." A nurse who was in the room looked over at him.

"See ya." Astro got up and left.

"I knew it. I knew he would do something like that." Tenma began to pace through the room, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Do what exactly?" Atom asked.

"Just... Ruin this precious moment. His own sister is born and he acts like a sarcastic as-" he stopped himself before cursing. "I should have known better than to have him come here. He must have been a real handful for you, Kaitlyn. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have had you pick him up on the way."

"I mean he was being pretty difficult. But it's still important he's here for this, right?" Kaitlyn looked over at Tenma.

"Some girls can be real assholes." Astro said as he looked in the mirror.

((END OF PART 3!))


	15. Part 4

"Ooo look, Brianna texted me, how nice."

"Now I just gotta camp out here in one of these stalls long enough to check my picstagram notifications and say hi to Brianna and get my caboose outta here!" He walked into one of the stalls and closed the door.

"It's been awhile since Astro's came back, I hope he's okay….." Atom began.

"He's probably fine. Just looking through stuff on his phone, I bet." Kaitlyn walked over to one of the chairs and sat down.

"Hmmm, seems reasonable…"

"That was extremely rude of him, though. Right, Emi?" Kaitlyn looked over at Emily.

"Hmmmm?"

"Wasn't it rude? What he did?"

"Yeah, I guess….." Emily shrugged.

"Wow. What has this world come to?" Kaitlyn leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

Astro stood outside the door.

"Should I go back in that hell, or make a run for it and talk to Brianna? Hmmmm, girlfriend, family, girlfriend, family, girlfriend, family, GIRLFRIEND, fam- I'm calling Brianna!"

"Hey Brianna!" Astro greeted as he made his way down the hallway the bathroom was on.

"_Hi pookie face!"_

"Sups!"

"_Yo yo yo, it's MC Bri, talking on the phone with MC T."_

"We may not know how to rap but that's okay!"

"_Cuz MC Bri and MC T. gonna rap anyway!" _

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The two of them laughed super hard.

"So how's it going?"

"_Mucho fabuloso!"_

"So I see you speak Spanish."

"_A little, still have a long way to go…."_

"Well you keep going ari- I hear footsteps."

"_Yeah me too, where the fuck are you?"_

"At the hospital where my mom unleashed hell from her hell."

"_Oh, is it…"_

"A persona of the female gender yes, get ready for the periods and tantrums and the craziness, hopefully I'll die before she reaches puberty, or at least get my ass out of that house…"

Brianna bursted out laughing.

"Yeah, the footsteps are back, remind me of Blondaslut or Citizen."

"_Hmmm, strange."_

"Maybe I should just casually walk to the-"

"Astro!"

"Bathroom!" Astro took off.

"Get back here you ditcher!"

"If I hide in one of these stalls, keep real quiet and hide my feet no one will find me…"

"Agent Ten Man. Do you copy?" Kaitlyn said into her phone.

_"What are you doing?"_ Tenma answered.

"I'm trying to be cool. OK?"

_"Umm... OK? Why do you need me anyway?"_

"He went back into the bathroom. I'm not going into that cesspool of manly grossness."

_"I'll be there in a few minutes."_

"Hurry up. I think he's talking to himself in there."

"I'm Astro the dino, Astro the dinosaur!"

"_HOLY SHI- BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" _

"And I eat french fries everyday!"

"_No you don't."_

"Damnit she's onto me!"

"Hey hey, remember the prank we pulled on Kaitlyn and her hubby?"

"_Yeah."_

"That was pure gold, we like killed two birds with one stone, we made her look like a slut _and_ got her to stop going to the park!"

The two of them spent sometime talking before Tenma walked into the bathroom.

"Astro?"

Astro froze and didn't move.

"Just come out. There's no point in hiding."

Astro couldn't help but let out a huge, loud fart.

Tenma walked over to where the sound came from and opened the stall.

"DUDE?! Can't you see i'm trying to take a poop, I got gas issues right now, seesh!"

Tenma stood there for a moment.

"Fine. I'll be waiting at the door for you when you get out."

Brianna on the other side of the line was laughing super hard.

"Sssh Brianna, you're blowing my cover!" Astro whispered into his phone.

Tenma turned around before leaving.

"See? Now he's gonna know I've been camping out here to avoid interacting with society and the hell that was unleashed from someone's hell!"

"Well what do you want me to do, you think I give a shit, I've gone through way too much hell in my life, and adding this kind of stress isn't gonna help no matter how many people are smiling, it'll just be another thing people can use to ignore and make me feel like shit. And I don't wanna feel like shit, ever. I mean I don't want the spotlight, but i'd rather have it then have people constantly shoving me into the shadows."

Astro didn't say a word before he dropped his phone onto the ground and broke into tears.

All he could do was sit there and let the tears stream down his face.

Tenma knocked on the door. "Are you ok? You're taking an awfully long time."

Astro just leaned forward and covered his face with his hands.

"He's probably just stalling…." Kaitlyn muttered.

After a moment she chuckled.

"Haha. Stalling. Get it… because he's in a bathroom _stall. stalling._ No?"

Tenma shook his head.

"_Astro? Astro you there? You didn't fall in the toilet did you?"_

"I've just been through too much today…." Astro shook his head as he spoke.

"_Well don't do anything stupid. and is that Kaitlyn I hear, so __**she**_ _gets invited to go see the new sibling and I don't and she's gonna be my future sister-in-law! hey!" _

"_But hey, hey, if Tenma's there, you should call him Willy Wonka to throw him off. And if he barges in give him the death glare and slowly unzip your pants!" _

"_Wait wait, am I on speaker phone? YO MAN OF THE HOUSE WAZ UP DAWG?!" _

"Is he talking to Brianna?" Tenma looked over at Kaitlyn.

"Yeah. He must have decided to take his time away from everyone to talk to his _honey bun_. Dang why does he always take so long?"

"If you want to go back, you can. You don't have to wait."

"No. I 'd rather stay and see you lecture the crap out of him." She smiled.

Tenma raised an eyebrow.

"Ok. I'll be good. I'll go back." She slowly walked away then quicken her pace as she made her way down the hall.

"_Man of the house? Tenma? future father-in-law? Oh he must have left with Kaitlyn, hahaha." _

"_Hey Astro how long you plan on staying here ummmmm, have some things I need to do."_

"Until my death." Astro quickly replied.

"_Oh. Well that's cool, maybe i'll come over and visit you then…"_

"And get me out of this hell?"

"_Sure we can go to the park…." _

"Hmmm I dunno, i'm already ditching on everyone by staying in here…"

"_Ah who cares?! Like they gave a shit anyways, All they did was interrupt your slumber!"_

Astro stood up.

"You know what? You're right Brianna! I deserve a break from this shit and take a nap!"

He walked out of the stall and out of the bathroom.

"Astro?" Tenma looked over at him.

"Hasta la vista bitches!" Astro waved goodbye.

"No no no. _You_ are not going anywhere." Tenma grabbed his arm as he began to walk away.

"_Oh come on Tenma, cut your son some slack, he's been through a lot today." _

Tenma took Astro's phone. "Hello, Brianna. I'm sorry I have to do this, but me and Astro have some talking to do." He ended the call and put the phone in his pocket.

"_Wha? Astro? Tenma? Holy shit that bitch hung up on me! Welp, looks like I'm gonna have to go out there myself…" _

"Well then." Astro blinked.

Tenma pulled Astro over to a chair and sat him in it.

"I... Am _very_ disappointed in you, son." He said as he kneeled in front of Astro.

"Haha, like that's new…."

"You know I'm rarely disappointed in you. You should know by now that it takes a lot for me to feel that way."

"So what.. I didn't save the day or make you feel better, what do you expect me to do?"

"I expected you to be happy for once."

"Be happy that there's another excuse to put me in the shadows?"

"Put you in the shadows?"

"Yes, put me in the shadows." Astro nodded.

"When did I ever do that?"

"I dunno, I've just always felt like I was in the shadows, always put last, always forgotten…."

"I'm sorry if you ever felt that way. I had no idea. I would never want to make you feel like that. And you know that. I tell you constantly that I love you."

"I know it's just….. well…. I don't know yet…."

Tenma sighed.

"Honestly, Cindy and I didn't really expect you to move in. It never really came up. And when we learned she was expecting, we were ecstatic. Then you came back, and soon, I found you helpless on the front steps."

"The point I'm trying to make is that even though it was a surprise to have you back, I wouldn't want things to be any other way. And just because there's going to be someone new in the house, doesn't mean we're going to forget about you. We'll love you both just the same."

"Well I guess if you say so." Astro shrugged.

"I really do mean all that."

Astro sighed.

"I just have too much dinner on my plate…."

"You could just tell me these things whenever you need to. You know I'll help."

"Fine, let's go back, say, three years ago? A day you thought couldn't possibly get worse, and then when it hits you, it's the worst thing ever."

"And you try hiding it from everyone thinking you can solve it yourself when it secretly gets worse…."

"And then three years down the line you turn into this asshole and your whole life's end."

"That's all in the past. We can fix that. I know I wasn't there to help then. I was my old self back then. And I'm so sorry that I was the way I was."

"Well there's nothing we can do to change the past, not even the present, we just have to sit back and watch…"

"Or you can try and change it before anything gets worse."

"Or you could die."

"Dying is not an option, Astro."

"Well then you must not know me…."

"I know you better than you think."

"That sounds a bit creepy…."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know _that_ you're too fancy to be a pervert."

"Thank you."

"But unfortunately you made one. sorry."

"Yes. So unfortunate."

"Yup."

"So what was this about anyways? Pointing out i'm an ass and I should be _happy_!" Astro squealed.

"No. Pointing out that you're troubled and that you have no self-worth. And that I want to help you feel happier because none of this is good for you. As a father, I want the best for my son."

"Well ummm… I _kinda_ set myself up to fail so ummmm… not sure what your tactic is gonna be but ummm, good luck."

"You know I'll never stop trying until you're happy."

"Well then you're gonna need to be around for a long ass time…"

"I have a lifetime."

"Atom scares me."

"He's going to be fine."

"Well it's just so unusual, you know, always just the brightest thing and then…. and then…. and then…."

"H-he tries to throw his life down the drain like it's nothing! Nothing!"

"I talked to him. He knows better. He said he won't do anything like that again. But he'll need a lot of love from everyone to heal. And so do you." Tenma put his hand on Astro's shoulder.

"I know…."

Astro was about to speak again but was cut off by a semi-loud sound of a phone going off.

"Haha, I picked the best ringtone for when she calls." Astro chuckled.

Tenma took the phone out of his pocket and handed it to Astro.

"_You bitch you hung up on me?!"_

"Nah nah nah, I didn't hang up on you, that was citizen…."

"_Oh. well um…. wow ok…. um….sorry, haha."_

"Mmmhmm."

"_So what was that whole talk about then."_

"That i'm an ass and I need to be _happy!_"

"I did not say that. That was you." Tenma added.

"_Oh really? Wow great lesson Tenma, haha." _

"_Hey uh, Astro, on the off chance, what kind of cake do you like?"_

"None."

"_Tenma, on the off chance, what kind of cake does Astro like?" _

"Chocolate."

"Pfft wha? No, don't listen to him, I hate cake."

"_I just baked you a cake for our anniversary you dumbass."_

"Doesn't mean I ate it, did I?"

"_So? You don't need to eat a cake in order to like it._

"Okay fine, but why would you need to-"

"_Nothing, nothing, just ummm… wondering…" _

"Good for you."

"_Yup. So you still leaving, 'cause i'm putting my shoes on now and heading for the door. I'll come get you and release you from your hell…." _

"Sure." Astro stood up.

"Hasta la vista again bitches!" Astro waved goodbye once again.

"Astro…..."

"Catch you later citizen!"

"I have a question for you first."

"Umm, okay?"

"Which is right? Staying with your family and your newborn baby sister. Or running away from them to be with your girlfriend?"

"_Ummm, i'd like to answer that with your family is something you see everyday when you only see your girlfriend when you can make time which is little to nothing compared to how many times you see your family, so it really depends how much of a douche bag you are and how much you truly care…."_

"She could always come here, Astro. We could all be together. But it's your choice."

"Well Brianna does have a point….."

"It's up to _you. _Not Brianna."

Astro sighed.

"Brianna…."

"_Yup yup pookie face."_

"I'll uh… meet you outside…" Astro walked away.

Tenma sighed and walked back towards the room.

"So did you find Astro?" Atom asked when Tenma walked into the room.

"... Um… No."

"What do you mean, he was-"

Tenma looked over at Kaitlyn and put a finger over his lips as he shook his head.

She tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh.. well he probably couldn't have gone far…"

"He might just be in the bathroom still. Either that or this was a little too much excitement for him so he went to sit downstairs." Tenma sat in the chair next to Atom.

"Aw that's cute, over excitement, what if he went home to throw out the trash?" Atom bursted out laughing.

"Perhaps."

"Well he's _really_ gonna need to throw the trash out now 'cause pee-you do diapers stink!"

Tenma chuckled.

"Hey uh. Ten Man. Can I ask you something?" Kaitlyn looked up at Tenma.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Um. Can I ask you outside?" She glanced over at the door.

"Oh. Sure." He got up and followed Kaitlyn out of the room.

Atom waved at Kaitlyn as she and Tenma left the room.

"Bye bestie!"

She waved back.

"This is about Astro, isn't it?" Tenma turned around and looked at Kaitlyn.

"Yeah. Where is he? And why would you say that to Atom when we clearly saw him?" Kaitlyn whispered.

"He left."

"Of course! Of course he left! Let me guess. To go be with Brianna?" Kaitlyn threw her hands up and walked in a circle.

Tenma nodded.

"Typical Astro! Can't he just do one thing like a normal person for once?!"

"He's not normal, Kaitlyn. Both you, me, and many others know that. And he's not going to act normal either."

"This one time, though. Why couldn't he just pretend. To make you and Cindy happy?"

"He's not like that."

"HE COULD HAVE AT LEAST TRIED!"

"Calm down. I told you this earlier, it's going to take a long time to fix everything and to help him change."

"But this one time…. He just messed it all up again. I know he ruined it for you guys."

Atom walked out of the room.

"Oh don't mind me, just looking for a water fountain.."

Kaitlyn and Tenma waited for him to walk away.

"Kaitlyn, It's ok. I saw it coming. Just leave this one up to me." Tenma put his hands on Kaitlyn's shoulders as she sniffled.

"Ok…. But why lie to Atom like that?"

"I didn't want him to know the truth. We've all been let down by Astro one time or another but I know he hasn't seriously let down Atom yet. I didn't want to break his heart by telling him his brother abandoned him."

Kaitlyn nodded.

"Guys, you should really try out that water fountain, the waters like freezing! Whoo!" Atom said as he walked back into the room.

Kaitlyn giggled then looked up at Tenma before giving him a quick hug.

They followed Atom back inside.

"Gee, it's so quiet in here..Don't you think, Kaitlyn?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Atom's stomach made a noise.

"Ah, whoopsies! Looks like I'm a little hungry, hehe.." Atom blushed as he nervously smiled, putting his hands over his stomach.

"How about we go down to the cafeteria and get some food while we let Cindy and the baby rest?" Tenma looked at Kaitlyn, Emily, and Atom

"Okie dokie!" Atom stood up.

Kaitlyn woke up Emily and they all followed Tenma out the door after he quickly gave Cindy a kiss on the forehead.

Astro and Brianna were sitting outside by the benches of the hospital having a regular chat.

"Gosh, i'm hungry…" Astro began.

"Yeah, we should get going anyways." Brianna said as she got up from the bench.

The four of them passed by the entrance and caught a glimpse of Astro and Brianna leaving.

"Hey Kaitlyn, don't those two people look a lot like Astro and Brianna?" Atom whispered.

"Um, yeah, What a funny coincidence."

"Haha, it'd be a shame if it were, it's not nice to ditch your family over your girlfriend, no matter how madly in love you are with her…"

"I know right..."

"Hey, I wonder if we'll spot him on our way, we should keep a sharp eye out for him."

"Um. Yeah. Oh look! There it is! Let's get there quick before you starve!" Kaitlyn grabbed Atom's wrist and rushed over to the cafeteria.

"Ah! I think we're going a little too fast! How are we gonna catch him when everything is like moving fast and blurry?"

"Tenma will keep an eye out."

"Oh, well that's good, always have a responsible adult to help you!"

The two of them finally made it.

"Whoo that was a workout, wasn't it?" Atom said as he tried catching his breath, looking at Kaitlyn.

"Yeah. Sure. Let's go find a table."

"Ooo, how about that one in the corner?"

"Ok!"

Atom walked over to the table and sat down.

A few minutes later, Tenma and Emily walked in.

"Did you see him on your way here?" Atom asked.

"Who?... Oh. Um. No."

"Hmmm, well he couldn't have gone far, I hope he's not stuck on the toilet, no no no no, I need bleach for my eyes!"

"No. He's not in the bathroom."

Atom scooted over so Tenma could sit.

"This is actually kinda fun, spending quality time with family." Atom smiled.

"Yeah." Kaitlyn nodded.

Tenma nodded along with her.

"Oh! I just realized i've been in my PJ's this whole time, oh gosh…" Atom's face turned red and he put his head down.

"We're _all_ in PJ's, Atom." Emily looked over at him.

Atom looked up.

"Oh, but I bet none of you are in socks."

"I don't wear socks to bed. I have on flip flops." Kaitlyn said. "And I think everyone else has shoes on. So yeah. You're the only one in socks."

"So uh, what are we getting?"

"Oh. Yes. What do you guys want?" Tenma looked around at the group.

"Ummm I dunno, not sure what they have."

"I'll go see if they have menus." Kaitlyn got up and walked over to the counter on the other side of the room.

"Hmmmm, the colors of this room are very pretty." Atom commented.

Kaitlyn walked back with a piece of paper.

"Here's what they got." she placed it on the table

"Oooo, so hard to choose…"

"Well there's sandwiches, salads, I think today there's hamburgers... Lucky us... And um... Pudding..."

"Ooo pudding, haven't tried that in forever!"

"Are you gonna get pudding then?"

"Hmmm… I dunno, what do you think?"

"I don't know. It's up to you."

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to have some…"

"Ok. Pudding for you. Emi? What do you want?" Kaitlyn handed the menu over to her.

"I dunno, whatever you think i'd like." Emily put the menu down and passed it to Tenma.

"I'll be going up there so I'll just put this back." He said.

"I'll go with you." Kaitlyn got up.

Tenma stood up as the two walked up to the counter.

Atom yawned as he stretched his arms outward.

"Whoo, getting tired again, geez."

"You ok?" Emily asked.

"Yeah just a little tired.."

Atom put his head down and closed his eyes.

As they stood in line, Kaitlyn nudged Tenma with her elbow.

"Hmm?" He looked down at her.

"I really feel terrible about lying to Atom. He deserves to know the truth." She said in a quiet time.

"I do, too. You know I hate lying. But it's best he doesn't know."

"Is it really? We all know Astro's the way he is. Atom knows too. He'll understand."

"Let's keep it to ourselves, please." Tenma moved up in the line.

"Uh. But..." Kaitlyn stopped to catch up with him.

"One hot dog, one pudding cup, and what do you want, Kaitlyn?" Tenma said the the cashier then looked next to him at Kait.

"Turkey sandwich for me. slice for Emi."

"That'll be $28.90, sir."

Tenma paid the woman then began to walk back to the table.

"But Tenma." Kaitlyn walked behind him

"No. No buts. We're not telling him." Tenma turned around and faced her

"Huh?" Atom lifted his head up.

"Would you do this to me, or Cindy, or Astro, or even your own daughter?" Kaitlyn whispered to Tenma.

He sighed then sat back down.

Atom rubbed his eye.

"I-I think i'm getting really tired."

"I can tell." Kaitlyn sat next to Tenma.

Atom yawned.

"So uh…. how's it going guys?"

"Um…. Uh….. ASTRO LEFT WITH BRIANNA OK!?" Kaitlyn blurted out.

"Hmmm? Wh-what was that Kaitlyn?"

"Kaitlyn, let me handle this." Tenma looked over at her.

She nodded, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

"We've.. I mean… I've been lying to you." He looked over at Atom.

"No no no, I must be going crazy, you're all such nice people, you would lie to… me."

"Ok. I take it back. Bad idea." Kaitlyn hid her face with her hands.

"You said he should know the truth, and that's what's right, am I correct? So I'm going to tell him."

"I told you I'm stupid and you should never listen to me. You should have listened to me….. oh wait." Her voice sounded muffled from her hands.

"Look guys, it's okay, people have to do things to protect themselves, even I tell a little lie here and there for the sake of my safety... Sometimes people aren't meant to hear the truth because it would crush their tiny heart into a million pieces and they would murder them in their sleep for being meanie heads…"

"Ok. Nevermind. We were never hiding anything! Surprise!" Tenma laughed nervously.

"Hu-wha? Surprise, are you throwing me a party?"

"TENMA WHAT THE HECK! How is it possible to screw up this much! We were already in too deep and now he thinks we're throwing him a party! What's wrong with you!" Kaitlyn started smacking Tenma on his arm.

"Ah. Stop! We're. Not. Throwing. Ow. You. A Party." He tried to block himself.

"Oh, well that's ok, not too much of a party person anyway."

"So, so what we're you trying to tell me earlier?"

Kaitlyn put her hands back down on the table.

"We were trying to tell you that I actually found Astro." Tenma rubbed his arm.

"Oh! Well that's nice, but uh, then where is he now?"

"The little asshole abandoned us for Brianna." Kaitlyn rolled her eyes.

"What? No, no no no, he did not, I would feel so bad for you guys… it's just not right for him to take off like that…"

"He did. And that doesn't make him an asshole, Kaitlyn. He decided that leaving to be with Brianna was the right thing to do."

"Aw no, that makes me sad… I feel really bad for you guys…"

"No, no. It's ok." Tenma smiled. "I saw it coming. At least he came at all."

"True, you have a good point. But i'm still really sorry..."

"It's not your fault."

"It- It's not?"

"Of course not."

((END OF PART 4!))


	16. Part 5

"Oh, well that makes me feel a lot better." Atom smiled.

"That kid's got good timing, though." Kaitlyn laughed. "I thought I would have to leave without seeing the baby for like three months. Good thing it happened the day before I leave. And I got to hang out with you guys a little more too." She smiled.

"Yeah, nice spending time…. with the… bestie…" Atom tried to reach over to give her a high-five but fell asleep and hit his head against the table.

She tried not to laugh.

"It seems that our food is done. I'll go grab it." Tenma got up again.

Kaitlyn looked over at Emily and stuck her tongue out.

She got a text on her phone and looked down to read it.

"Ooo who's this one from?" Emily asked.

Astro had sent a photo of him and Brianna at the park with the caption "Guess where we are?" "Guess where you can't be?"

"What is it?" Emily tried leaning over the table to see.

"Oh my god. I hate his ass so much right now." Kaitlyn deleted the messages.

She was sent another picture, this time with it saying "Okay, okay, we'll stop bragging for now, we're gonna go take a walk and sit by the bench."

Kaitlyn sent a text back saying "I'm not upset about you bragging, but I hope you get a watercooler full of water dumped on you. :) :) :)"

"You mean like the ice bucket challenge but the watered down version, get it _watered_ down!"

"Yeahhhhhh. Totally. Because that toooootally is still trending. People toooootally still do it. Just saw my neighbor do it last week. :3"

"Yeah, and maybe we might go for a round two of the nasty rumors"

"I'm not even there so where's your proof?"

"The simple fact that society believes anything you tell them without proof is the reason assholes get hated on because of one stupid eff up that could have even been fake! But people enjoy hating on other people and making them shit, thus, you don't need to proof to tell people someone's a slut."

"Wow. Well how would you like it if it happened to you? I'm sure you wouldn't like it."

"I'd actually be flattered."

"Oh really. Well how about I go around telling everyone you kill babies and rape little girls to get even?"

"Hmmmm, not bad, not bad, but I think you can do better…"

"You tried eliminating an entire race of people through genocide. Look who's the real Hitler! Astro!"

"Pffft, amature, you gotta go big okay, you gotta say I did something like say gay people go to hell…"

"Yeah I know that was terrible. I'm just getting rid of the bad ideas. And thats a good one. And say you tried pushing your brother down a well because of that."

"Yeah that sounds good, you should go with that."

"Yeah! Because gossip and rumors are joke! They're fun! They ruin people's lives! SO EXCITING! You do realize you're being a legit bully, right?"

"And _you_?"

"Did I ever bully anyone? No."

"Look look, I ain't got time for you or this bullshit, you wanna point fingers you do it like a lady, if not you keep ya damn mouth shut and move along."

"Yes. And you have no time for your step-mother either. She just went through more pain than you'll ever know and you're out there having a jolly ol' time."

"Yes, because I'm bonding with Brianna…"

"You could be bonding with your parents and a tiny little kid you've only just met."

"But it's not the same, and it never will be the same.."

"You think if Brandon suddenly wanted to go on a date at 2 in the morning during all this, I would go? No."

"No because your an ass and no wonder he's taking it slow with you, because all you do is push him away and now since he's on the radar with you with the people in the park, Mr. Fancypants sugar daddy isn't being treated like a king."

"I DON'T PUSH HIM AWAY. HE PUSHES ME AWAY. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ASTRO. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT."

"Oh, so he's the next Reno the pervert? I knew it! I knew it! You should never fall for sugar daddies you idiot!"

"Shut up! He's shy, ok. And he's not a pervert. You don't even know him."

"So? Probably only wants ya cuz you look great for a sex partner, and now he's all shy cuz he's a dumbass and forgot you can't have sex without socializing."

"Omg. How can you just assume these things. You don't know him. Don't go around thinking he's some pimp. He knows I don't want to do it and he's known since the day we met. He's accepted that. At least he's not some sex hungry freak like you."

"Well at least I can do it all day without guilt while you need birth control and a dozen condoms…"

"Wow. That's sexist. And I just said that I never did it and will not."

"How is it sexist, im not making in front of your sex, your a human, im a robot, obviously robots can't get humans preggers, duh?"

"Yes. But you're still a boy. And of course guys aren't gonna care about what girls have to go through."

"What, I care about Brianna, trust me, I know her like I know my ABC's and most of my 123's."

"Wow. You know you're girlfriend. Big deal. How about every other woman. You need to learn respect."

"Yeah, and what about you? people think it's all about women and oh pled for me! you dont understand! my period! oh gawd! oh gawd! when really genders shouldn't be judged at all, like so your a girl, BIG FUCKING DEAL. so you're a guy, BIG FUCKING DEAL, there shouldn't be a division, you guys should just be HUMANS and not male or female."

"If you had a period even once, you'd understand. And girls don't complain as much as you think. And wow. Finally we agree on something. Everyone should shut the fuck up and keep their problems AND OPINIONS to themselves. They should also be kind and respectful. And realize that everyone has the same problems."

Astro didn't respond.

"Wow." Kaitlyn said as she put her phone down on the table. "Can't help getting into an arguement with me even over the phone."

She looked up at Emily.

Atom slowly opened his eyes again.

"Whoo, that was quite the nap!"

Tenma came back to the table with a tray of food.

"Sorry that took a while. The guy told me the pizza was _almost _done. I don't think almost means 5 minutes." He put the tray down on the table.

"Why's everyone being so quiet?" He asked a few moments after he sat down.

"I dunno, I just had a weird dream about llamas." Atom chuckled.

"Oh..."

Kaitlyn angrily grabbed her sandwich and put it in front of her.

"Are you ok?" Tenma looked over at her.

"Yeah, you seem really annoyed?"

She handed Tenma her phone.

He read through the texts.

"Oh. Ok. I see why you're angry now. Try not to fight with him next time."

"You think I want to!?" Kaitlyn responded harshly with a mouth full of food.

"He's fragile and I don't want-"

"No!" Kaitlyn swallowed and looked over at Tenma. "I don't care if he's in a full body cast or if he's on the verge of killing himself. If he's going to gain any self-esteem, he's going to have to respect people first. Everytime he brings up Brandon and talks about him like he's some pedo. Everytime he brings up that prank. He knows what he's getting into. He likes getting me angry. When I'm angry I look like the asshole. I don't want to be angry! But I can't help it when he starts harping on about my personal life, which is obviously none of his business. 'Fragile' or not, there's a line between being a kinda jerk and being an outright bully. He crossed that line a long time ago. And ooohhhhh is he still going. I want to help him too, but I also want this to stop!"

She turned back around and continued eating her sandwich.

"I'm sorry for lashing out." She said in a small, quiet voice.

"It's okay Kaitlyn, everyone needs to blow off steam every once in a while.." Atom replied.

Tenma looked shocked for a while before finally reaching over and grabbing his hot dog.

"I guess we're both doing it wrong….." He let out after a few minutes of silence.

Atom looked confused for a moment but shrugged it off, knowing there was no point in asking about it.

"Glad you finally noticed the elephant in the room… I mean…. got my point….."

Tenma rolled his eyes.

"Oh I totally forgot about Elefun! Ooooo i'm gonna be toast!" Atom panicked a little.

"I'll talk to him about it when I drop you off." Kaitlyn glanced up at Atom.

"You'd really do that for me? Aw, you see, this is why we're best friends."

"Plus I'm one of the few people he'll let talk to him without snapping their heads off." She muttered to herself.

Suddenly the hospital doors flung open and a familiar voice was heard.

"So uh. where do you think they are?"

"I dunno."

"Well come on we have to be quick about this, especially since Kait's steaming like Tomas the Tank Engine!"

"Yeah well this box isn't light!"

"Of course it's not, it has my personal stuff, why why would it be light for?"

"Well maybe you should lay it down on the art and writing man."

"Sssh!"

"Oh there they are!"

"Ok now just drop the box at their table and walk away…"

"Sure thing my Astro!"

"Meet you outside!"

"Can't wait!"

Brianna casually walked up to their table and set the heavy box down and made a run for it.

"Oh. Hi, Brianna!" Atom looked up. "Oh wait. Where is she going."

"CAN'T TALK GOTTA GO BAIII GUYS!"

"What the… If she's here then Astro…. I'm going to kill him. Yup. The bastards a dead man. I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM!" Kaitlyn stood up and ran after Brianna.

"Kaitlyn! Wait!" Tenma ran after her.

By the time Kaitlyn got outside, Astro was gone but Brianna was sitting by the benches.

"YOU!"

"Ummm.. yes?" Brianna asked.

"Where is he?" Kaitlyn stormed over to her.

"I dunno, POOKIE FACE? POOKIE YOU AROUND HERE? Nope don't hear a thing."

"Oh, you must wanna thank him for the gift, yeah I was actually surprised he was gonna do it, but he insisted so I said 'hey why not?' Not sure where he is now though… could be anywhere, not even sure myself." Brianna shrugged.

Tenma ran outside and stopped when he saw Kaitlyn.

"I... I'm really out of shape... My god..." He hyperventilated.

"Oh hey Tenma!" Brianna waved.

"Oh my fucking god. Where is he? I want to rip off his leg and shove it down his throat."

"Now now now Kaitlyn, we all know very well he's taken, no need for world war three, I assure you he's in great hands and i'm a sweet, loving, caring person!"

"No. No. I want to kill him. I'm going to ran after him. I don't care of it takes me all day. I'm going to find him." Kaitlyn turned around and began to walk away.

"Kaitlyn, listen if you go after him you'll look like just as bad of a jackass as he is, you can't fight fire with fire."

"Look, I don't give a crap. He's made me look bad enough. A little jackass mixed in will be nothing. I don't care if I'm arrested for killing him. I'm going to get him." She said with a demonic smile plastered across her face.

"Kaitlyn to be honest, you should just leave him the fuck alone, if anyone here is being a bitch, it's you, it's you with your threats, it's you trying to pick a fight with someone you shouldn't be fucking with in the first place, Tenma is right, he's just fragile and helpless and all your doing is adding fuel to the fire."

"I SAID I DON'T CARE!" She began to run away but Tenma grabbed her arms and held her back.

"LET ME GO! HE'S SO DEAD. JUST LET ME GOOOOO! Let me go..." She fell to her knees.

Brianna took a step back and tried keeping it together.

"Look... I... I need to go... Can you just let go, Tenma. I just want to go to my car and drive home. I promise." She looked up at Tenma with tears in her eyes.

Brianna shook her head and walked away.

Tenma shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Not when you're like this..."

Kaitlyn put her head down. "I must look like a real freak right now... Don't I?"

Astro walked out of the hospital doors.

"Sorry about that Brianna I needed to pe-"

He looked at both Kaitlyn and Tenma.

Kaitlyn looked up and back at Astro.

"Well shit... Can I kill both of them please?" She looked at Tenma again.

"No. Are you nuts?!"

"A little." She tried to run towards Astro but Tenma still held her back.

Astro casually walked away.

"Check the box." He muttered as he walked past by them.

"Just let me stab him. Once. That's all. Maybe twice. Then you can fix him up all nice and pretty!"

"No. Now stop... Before I have to check you into the psychiatric ward." Tenma tried to pull her back.

"Ugh fine." She stopped pulling and stood still.

"I promise I'm sane now. Can you let go."

"No."

"Oh my god... So are we just going to stand here like idiots or what?"

"You really do act like Astro sometimes..." He chuckled.

"Excuse me?" She looked back again.

Tenma looked around and whistled.

"Ooo I wonder what this box i-"

"Don't touch it, wait till everyone else gets here."

"Fine." Atom folded his arms.

Tenma walked back in, holding Kaitlyn by her arm.

"Ow... That hurts." She said after he tugged her along.

"And you hurt my feelings."

"When did I ever-... Ugh whatever." She sat down.

"Guys, look at this box Brianna left behind!" Atom pointed to it.

"I think Astro wants us to look in it." Tenma sat down where he was before.

"Who's gonna open it?" Atom asked.

Kaitlyn opened up the box.

She saw a piece of paper that read "Go ahead, give all my secrets away" and underneath were personal and close belongings of Astro's.

Kaitlyn lightly banged her head on the table.

"Those are a LOT of journals if you ask me…"

"It's a trick. Just don't even touch them." Kaitlyn said between hits.

"I hate him so goddamn much." She whispered.

"But this one has a cool pattern, i've never seen notebooks like this at the store…"

"I bet I look crazy don't I?" Kaitlyn lifted her head up and smiled.

"No shut up, you're perfect." Atom said as he flipped through a few pages.

"No. I made a fool of myself. Everyone here thinks i'm nuts now." Kaitlyn looked back at a table far behind her. "YEAH I'M LOOKING AT YOU STINKEYE!" She yelled to the lonely man sitting at the table. He looked down with a shamed look and continued eating.

"Maybe I don't want a 'happily ever after', maybe I want a 'the end.'" Atom read aloud.

"Atom, I said no."

"But Kaitlyn…"

"No. Now give me the journal."

Atom sighed and handed it to her.

"Now I'm going to put this back and we're going to burn this box and everything in it." She smiled and placed the book back in the box.

"Isn't that a little harsh for someone's personal stuff, I know I wouldn't want my personal stuff burned if i ever gave it someone."

"He freely gave them to us to do as we please. And I don't want to be fooled by him... Again... And the secrets are going to stay nice and safe and secret in the first flames of Tenma's fireplace."

"Well maybe there's a message…"

"I'm done playing these _games_ with Astro, ok?"

Atom got up and walked away.

"Great. I fucked up again. What am I going to do?... Hmm? You're the adult here. You should know what to do." She looked over at Tenma.

"I... Really don't know..."

"Well crap. Look at this mess I got us into... _Again._ Atom's angry at me, I look like some idiot mental patient, Tenma doesn't know what to do now, Astro's tricking us again and God knows where he is now, and today was supposed to be special... Not only did Astro ruin it... But so did I... And I was trying to fix everything and make it perfect. It all backfired." Kaitlyn put her head down on the table.

"Well she has her reasons Atom, people don't just do things for the heck of it, you know that…"

"Well yeah but I just don't get why she dislikes him so much, I mean yeah sure he's done terrible things, but when you think about _everyone_ does terrible things, but we overlook those things and move along, right me?"

"Couldn't have said it better Atom."

"Thanks me, always get an expert opinion…"

"I'm terrible. I'm a horrible person and I'll never be able to make up for this. This exceeds all the sins I've ever committed... Granted they were mostly white lies and gluttony... And maybe disrespecting elders... That one time I accidentally ran over a squirrel... I held a funeral for it though... But this was just horrendous... This morning was a complete failure and I've made a bigger fool of myself in 2 hours then I ever did in my entire life..." Kaitlyn shook her head as she spoke.

Tenma awkwardly and cautiously tried patting her back.

"You should still forgive her Atom, if you really did deeply love and care about her, you would overlook this."

"Well yeah, but a real friend wouldn't bash on your siblings no matter how bad they are…"

"You have a point, but this is nothing to get too worked up about, Astro's gonna be fine, they just happen to be typical enemies, and you can't do anything to fix it."

Kaitlyn brought her knees up to her chest again.

"Can I just die now?" Her voice sounded muffled.

"I just wanna be dead." She whispered to herself with a quivering voice.

"B-but you shouldn't hurt people regardless, people hurt me and look what it lead to, no wonder he wants to kill himself, with so many people bashing him for not being the perfect image they want him to be, If I were him i'd act no differently!" Atom tried not to sob.

"Atom.. Atom… relax."

"But you don't understand me!"

"Of course I understand because I am you, you dimwit, you've been talking to yourself for five minutes straight?!"

"T-that's not helping!"

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen... I'm so sorry." Kaitlyn began sobbing. "This is almost as bad as what Astro did to me. It's true I'm just as bad as him..." Tenma gave in and put his arms around her.

"I-I wanna go home, can't stand being here anymore!"

"Maybe i'll just walk home…" Atom wiped the tears off his face as he got up from the bench and started walking away from the hospital.

Many minutes had gone by and Atom still hadn't returned.

Tenma had carried Kaitlyn back upstairs and dropped her off at the hospital room with Emily.

"I'm pretty sure she cried herself to sleep so I'm going to go look for Atom now." Tenma said to Emily and Cindy as he left the room again.

Atom had given up on walking and sat down on the sidewalk near the edge of the parking lot with tears streaming down his face as he saw cars pass by and the sun was getting a little hotter.

Tenma walked up to the front desk. Now there was another woman there.

"Um. Have you seen a black haired kid come through here?"

"Which one? I've been seeing this one kid walk through here like 3 times and I'm not sure if he's been changin' clothes in the bathroom or if they're twins, but its starting to freak me out a little bit." She said quickly.

Tenma blinked. "Um... They're twins. And the one I'm looking for is in pajamas."

"Oh. So they _are_ twins. Are you they're father? Where's the other twin? Cuz I know I saw both of them walk through that door. Why don't you care about the other one? You being a bad father. Mmm. But yeah. The cute one in the jammies walked through that door just a few minutes ago." She rambled on.

"Ok. Thanks. I'll just be go-"

"Wait. Quick question. Are you um 'Um-ah-tar-oh Tenma?' "

"Um. Yes that is me. And it pronounced 'uhm-mah-'-"

"And yo wife just had a baby?"

"Um. Yes. She did. Just a-"

"How many kids you got? Those two girls don't even look like you at all? Is there maybe 'another' in your wife's life? Maybe anothah marriage or-"

"No! Those two are not mine. This is the first baby I've had with my wife. Ok?!" He slammed his hands on the desk.

"Thank you for telling me where he went. Good riddance." He walked away.

"Mmm. So he must be a pe-"

"No. I am not a pedophile. Mind your own business." Tenma turned around and snapped at her.

" 'nah nah. I'm not a pedophile. Nah.' " she mocked him.

"I can still hear you!" Tenma yelled out as he walked out the door.

She stuck her tongue out at him while he wasn't looking.

"Atom!?" Tenma looked around the front of the hospital and the benches.

"Atom!" He called out again.

Atom turned around to see where the noise was coming from, but was blocked by the view of the many cars parked in the parking lot.

Tenma walked down the sidewalk some more, still calling out Atom's name.

"This is all your fault!" Atom muttered.

"What do you mean, you've been just talking to yourself the whole time!"

"Well you're not helping okay me?!"

"Atom…."

"No Atom no, don't 'Atom' me! I'm really hurt and offended right now!"

"Oh come on you're better than this… I know you, you're not gonna let this one thing control your life, remember Stephen, if you quit now you'll never see him again."

"Well I do make a good point…But i'm still sad." Atom sniffled.

"Atom?" Tenma looked down the sidewalk.

((END OF PART 5!))


	17. Part 6

"You see look, now people have caught you, they're gonna think you're crazy and send you to a mental hospital."

Tenma ran down to Atom.

"Atom! Why'd you just walk off like that?"

"I wanted to go home, b-but I gave up so I sat here and kept talking to myself."

"He's right."

"You could have just waited. I would have taken you home."

"Well I just-" Atom started sobbing again.

"Hey now. It's OK." Tenma sat next to him and rubbed his back.

Atom sniffled.

"You wanna go back inside?"

"I dunno, what do you think me?"

"I dunno do I look like an expert?"

"I'm gonna take that as a yes." Atom chuckled.

"So yes?"

"I guess that's fine." Atom nodded.

"Good enough." Tenma got up and held his hand out to Atom.

Atom gladly took his hand and stood up.

They strolled back inside together.

"I'm really sorry for storming out and walking away on you guys…" Atom apologized.

"It's ok. Along as your fine and happy." Tenma ruffled his hair.

Soon both Tenma and Atom had walked into the room.

"Found him."

Atom sighed and sat down in a chair, still feeling bad for what he did.

"Are you OK, Atom?" Cindy was sitting in the bed and looked over to see a sad Atom.

"Well not really, I feel really terrible for the negative actions I took today…"

"You didn't do anything bad." Tenma sat next to him.

"You promise?"

"Yes, of course. Pinky promise."

"Haha, I'm just really sorry you guys, i'm not even suppose to be here anyways and I just feel like a huge bother with mega anger issues…."

"No. No. I'm glad you're here." Cindy smiled.

"Really?" Atom lifted his head up and smiled back.

"Yes really."

Atom could feel the joy settling in when he couldn't stop smiling.

"Of course we were in a hurry earlier and only planned on calling Kaitlyn so she could pick up Astro and take him here. Maybe stay since we know this meant a lot to her. You and Emily were a pleasant surprise." Tenma added.

Atom tried to hide his red face with his hands.

Kaitlyn slowly opened her eyes.

"What happened? Why does my face feel all gross? AND WHERES MY SANDWICH?!" She sat up.

"Kaitlyn!" Atom exclaimed.

"It... It's gone... A moment of silence for that bad tasting sandwich please." She bowed her head for a second.

She snored.

Atom got up and walked over to her to give her a hug.

"Kaitlyn i'm really really sorry for what I did to you, I shouldn't have stormed away and wandered off because I was mad and I hope this still makes us best friends…"

Kaitlyn mumbled something that sounded like "it's ok." Then snored again.

Atom gently let her go and sat back down in his chair.

"So what did you do with the box?" he asked.

"It's over there in the corner." Cindy pointed to it.

"You know what you're gonna do with it?"

"Nope." Tenma looked over at it.

"But why would Astro wanna give us all those things and clearly state for us to read it?"

"He has his ways of trying to tell people something."

"He has in interesting mind though. Don't think I've ever met a creative person like him."

"Should we just look in them or no?" Emily butted in.

"I'm not sure, I mean if he tells us to, im assume he would expect us to." Atom replied.

"Let's just do it. Kaitlyn might say it's a trick. Everything he does is a trick. So if we're supposed to look through them, we will." Tenma got up and grabbed the box then placed it on the end of the bed.

On the top were many journals and on the bottom was old artwork of Astro's.

"So which one do we start with?"

"Just take one and read through it. Find anything interesting, then just say it out loud."

Atom picked a book up.

"If only they cared." He began.

"Don't- don't insult me if you have nothing smart to say, you're a teen not a three year old."

"Do I ever- no i'm stopping there, I don't curse." Atom walked away.

Tenma picked up the book. "I'll try to focus on more... Valuable parts... You could say..."

He flipped through a few pages then stopped on a paragraph.

"There's no ounce of love, yet there's no ounce of hate. Kinda like that, hey, maybe someone will make that a real quote!"

"Ok... Um... Maybe this..." Tenma scanned through the page.

"Do- Do you see the pain? Of course not I smile all the time!"

"If you're reading this, stop reading, put the book down, and get me some help."

"I think that's a sign that I should stop reading..." Tenma put the book back in the box.

"He sounds a little scary…" Atom said.

He walked over and picked up another book.

"I don't know if i'm crazy, or i'm sad or angry or happy, and why should I know, why should I spoil the fun?"

"I think I figured it out." Kaitlyn suddenly said from her seat.

"What do you mean?"

"How did you even hear us talking?"

"I was half asleep. But I think I know why he did this. Why he gave us this box of 'secrets'."

"So then what is it?"

"Well when I was picking him up from Tenma's house... We had a bit of an argument in the car."

"Uh huh." Atom nodded.

"Emi was there but she managed to sleep through it. Anyway, I was talking about how he invaded my privacy... More than once. His counterargument was that I revealed all his secrets to the world back when he ran away and we read his journal. But it was only me, Emily, Elefun, and maybe Tenma who read it. So technically we were uneven because I didn't embarrass him in front of a crowd of people in a park. Sooo." She took a breath of air. "This is his way of paying me back. So we're even... Although really its gonna take more than this to make up for what he did."

"So I don't get it, does he want us to read this and share it to everyone? Or is he mocking us because we did it before?"

"We didn't do it before... That's the point... It was only between Emi, me, and Elefun and we only used the information in there for clues on where to find him. Most of the journal was useless anyways. Just a lot of tearjerkers."

"Well there's a lot of harsh things written in here, especially things about himself..."

"The other was like that too... It may only be a theory that he wants me to look through these to get even... But either way it still feels wrong. I don't like having my stuff looked through or having my time with certain people interrupted rudely. So why do it to him too?"

"Well he wrote this for a reason.."

"You don't have to do something someone tells you to do. That's kinda the way Astro lives his life."

"Its kinda upsetting to read this i mean look at this, he spent a whole page and a half mocking himself and then two pages later adds something completely unrelated?!"

Kaitlyn got up and took the book from Atom then closed it.

"You wouldn't want someone to do it to you. Don't do it to him even though he's letting you."

"You're right. We should- wow thats a really great drawing." Atom peeked inside the box and saw one of Astro's artwork.

"If he put that in here, its probably personal, too. I'm going to clean all this up and Tenma can put it back in Astro's room later." She picked up the box.

Astro and Brianna walked through the door to say hello.

"So i see you got the box hmmm, who's the first one on your list?" Astro asked.

"Just to clear things up, I didn't read a word of what was in here. The others read through a bit, though." Kaitlyn looked at the others in the room.

"You write kinda dark." Atom Commented.

"Haha, it gets worse the more you read it, wrote a whole page and a half putting myself down and then two pages later wrote about a movie i saw a long time ago, good times, good times."

"Well here is your stuff back." Kaitlyn walked up to Astro and offered him the box.

"Oh no no, this is for you guys, i don't want it anymore, it's taking up too much space in my closet so I thought you guys would keep it so whenever you need you can read my deep dark terrible piece of crap and cry Niagara Falls at the same time."

"Look Astro. I don't feel comfortable even holding these. These are your secrets. Those are special to you. I'd feel wrong to read them. If they're taking up room, then throw them out yourself."

"But they mean a lot to me, what I write in there isn't just stupid stuff, it's who i really am, and i think the world needs to know the truth..."

"I'm not sure if your incentive is to try and get even with me about the whole privacy thing, or if you really like it when people cry, but I would really feel wrong having these and I know the others here shouldn't have them either."

"Well it's partly that but mostly the idea of getting who i really am out and about in the world!"

"Maybe it's time for a new you. Someone who isn't... Like this... Sad and depressed... And dark... It's a bad place to be. I would know. So, maybe throwing these away can mark a new chapter. For all of us. We all need to change."

"No, I couldn't, there's too many valuable memories I've documented in there..."

"Well maybe we can go through... And get rid of all the sad stuff. Maybe put all the good things in a new journal. You won't lose all of your old self... But..."

"Like the time i almost got bit by a snake, kinda funny actually, the time I met Brianna, the time i cursed in public, the time i uh... Uh... The time the water shut off on me when I wasn't being so clean in the shower..."

"Ok. That's a good start... Except for the last one... We'll work on that... But see its not so hard."

"Not so hard? No it was _very_ hard thank you very much!"

"Oh... Well um..."

"Blame Tenma, and blame Elefun."

"Well I tried. I give up. Anyone else up to bat? No? K then." Kaitlyn casually dropped the box on the floor and walked back to her seat.

Astro took off the top and picked up a journal.

"One time i ate a pop tart and I thought it was Nya Cat so i threw up... Long story short, don't eat pop tarts."

"See. That's something good... I guess..." Kaitlyn sat down.

"And then the day before i met the love of my life at the supermarket. It was- it was- It was butter crackers!" Astro died laughing.

"Now see. That stuff. The happy memories are better. Is it that hard to single it out?"

"Is it just me or is every adult i know a scientist."

"Citizen I didn't get you anything for Father's Day even though it's a long ass time for now because I procrastinate and I just discovered i have a shitton of crap in my closet."

Astro closed the book and put it back, picking up another book.

"When you feel terrible, does it hurt? Does it bite you in the back and shove a knife down your throat? Does the pain make you wanna choke on your own vomit? Sometimes i wonder what it _really_ does, is it beautiful, is it nasty, i may never know... No one will know, but you, you reading this, you'll know, because you read this..."

"I have this new thing of screaming in my sleep, regardless of the dream, which is pretty odd if you ask me. But wait, let's break this down. What am i afraid of? Death? Pain? Tears? Being forgotten? The fact I've become a monster? No... That's not it, i scream for help, not fear. I... I'm not sure... Hey you, you there, if you're reading this, stop reading, put the book down, and get me some help."

Astro sighed.

Brianna looked over at him.

He got up, put the book down and walked out of the room.

Brianna sighed and walked out as well.

"Well that was weird..." Atom began.

"And confusing..."

Atom sighed.

"I don't think I'm ready to go home yet..." He began.

"You see what happened there? That is exactly what I was talking about. Well I'm just gonna sit here in my chair in a awkward but strangely comfortable manner then go back to sleep, since no one's heeding my advice. You can wake me up right before the world explodes. I don't wanna miss that." Kaitlyn changed her position and pulled her plaid shirt over her head.

Atom looked over at her.

He smiled.

"You think I should go check up on Astro?" Atom asked.

Tenma nodded. "You want me to come along?"

"I guess, just in case of an emergency... You never know when a responsible adult could come in handy..."

"Good point." Tenma stood up.

Both him and Atom walked out of the room.

"Hmmm I don't see him... I wonder if he's down the hall?"

"Let's split up, then."

"Wait, need a water break..."

"Oh. Ok."

Atom came back a few moments later.

"Okay. Let's do this!"

They took off down both sides of the hallway.

"Astro? Astro?" Atom called.

"Sssh you dumbass!" It sounded like Brianna's voice.

"Umm, not sure if I'm supposed to be of-"

"I said be quiet retard!

"Bri-"

"No don't Brianna me, now just go back to your room and pretend you saw nothing, you hear me!"

"Astro?"

Brianna groaned.

"Brianna, i think you're starting to lose it..."

She sighed.

"I'm not losing it, just trying to... _Protect_ him..."

"From what? What is out there in this world that he hasn't seen?!"

"Atom... Just listen to Brianna and go back... I'm leaving again anyways..." Astro butted in.

"Astro i..."

Atom sighed.

"I know I shouldn't say this at all, and i hope that the good lord and everyone here forgives me for speaking such foul language, but Astro, you're being a serious fucking asshole to everyone and the biggest dick in this whole hospital is you and your crazy bitchy maniac girlfriend, and i hope you learn your lesson sometime soon, and when you're ready to put on your big boy pants, you can come back with class and not be the ahole, you're welcome." Atom walked away.

Tenma had finished searching the halls and was almost all the way back to the room.

Atom passed by him.

"Oh. Atom. No sight of him down there. Did you find him?" Tenma caught up to him.

"Well... Lets just say I showed him who's boss, he's down there with the bitchy maniac, and while you're at it, can you fetch me some holy water, i think i could really use some after speaking with this horrendous, dirty mouth..."

"Oh. Um. Ok?" Tenma slowed down.

"Should I uh… Go get them.. or?" He looked down the hall where Atom had been and pointed this his thumb in the direction.

"If you can convince him to put his big boy pants on and not be such a dickhead..."

"Well we all know that isn't possible. If he wants to grow up, he can." Tenma caught up with Atom again

"Then leave him..."

They walked back in the room.

"Gosh, sometimes family members can be seriously annoying." Atom said as he folded his arms and sat down in his chair.

"Tell me about it." Kaitlyn mumbled.

"By the way, does anyone here have holy water, i could really use some after speaking with such a horrendous, dirty mouth..."

"Nope. None here."

"Dear lord, please forgive me..."

"Don't worry Atom. Even the most censored people curse sometimes." Kaitlyn sat back up in her chair. "I only started swearing about 9 months ago."

"He's just been really an asshole lately and Brianna's like a maniac and I thought it needed to be brought to both of their attentions, so i did..."

"Well, I'm proud of you, Atom. You're probably the only person he's gonna take seriously with all this."

"Maybe ill just try soap instead." Atom stood up.

Astro walked in again.

"Up no no no, turn your caboose around fancy pants, you haven't learned your lesson yet..."

"I like this side of Atom." Kaitlyn laughed.

"Does it look like a give a damn?"

"Well you should..."

"Well you should..." Astro mocked.

Atom glanced up at him.

Astro walked out of the room.

"Dang Atom. I like this new sassy phase you got going on there." Kaitlyn chuckled.

"No no, im just loosing it, i need to go visit a church service with Stephen sometime soon..."

"No. You're standing up for yourself. So what if you curse a bit? Someone like you makes a better point when you use a little profanity. Because people know you're being serious."

"What is life..." Atom brought his knees up to his chest and looked off into the distance.

"I dont know anymore..."

"Well you had the guts to say it. That's pretty impressive."

"Well yeah, but now everyone who's anyone probably thinks i'm like this harsh person with anger issues through the roof, and then my own future sister-in-law is gonna murder me in me my sleep for calling her a maniac bitch!"

"Well I think I'm speaking for all of us when I say that I still think you're the sweet little Atom who wouldn't hurt a fly. And Brianna might be crazy but she wouldn't do _that_."

Atom sighed.

"Well just don't expect this Atom all the time! It's not nice to speak with sass and say mean things, even if you wanna show who's boss _or_ make a statement."

"A life lesson for everyone, you're welcome." Atom nodded before bursting out laughing.

"Kaitlyn... Kaitlyn... I must ask you something!"

"Yeah?"

"Did- did you throw out your trash? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

((END OF PART 6!))


	18. Part 7

"Um. I didn't need to….?"

"Phew! That joke never gets old, haha..."

Kaitlyn giggled.

"Hey, hey Tenma, is your fridge running?"

"No." He responded.

"Awww, well thats good, no need to go catch it! Haha, get it? Cuz umm, yeah... I'm gonna shut up now i make terrible jokes..."

"Ugh. I need coffee." Kaitlyn groaned as she sat upside down.

"Ooo i love coffee, especially the expensive kind, people say i'm a bit of a hipster but i think they mistaken it for being an ultra fabuloso ummm... Something..."

"But I literally got like 2 hours of sleep in all in the past 21 hours that I've been awake. This isn't healthy and the lack of sleep makes me crazy… like earlier."

"Awww poor Kaitlyn... I'll carry you and we can walk around while you sleep?"

"Nope I'm good. I was awake for hmmmm 27 hours once with no sleep. knocked out for one hour at the end. I really should sleep more…..."

"I'll just try and…. sleep…. here…..." She yawned. "I should probably move before all my blood rushes to my brain and I die."

"Oh, well goodnight."

She moved around and curled up in a ball on the chair then tried to sleep.

Atom sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"You know, I think we should all have a best friend like Kaitlyn, there's just so many interesting qualities she has that would make for one pretty awesome bestie." Atom giggled.

"I love you, and I love all you guys! You've really helped me out a lot today, and I can't thank you guys enough for all you've done."

He looked around the room to see that everyone else had fallen asleep.

"Wow ummmmm, okay..." He giggled.

He looked around once again and smiled.

"Too bad i'm like wide awake..."

Atom stopped rubbing Kaitlyn's back.

"Hmm... I need to pee." Atom quietly got up and left the room.

"Hey, you're useful, know where the bathroom is?" Atom asked Astro.

"Ummm, somewhere..." Astro replied.

"Ha. Ha. Ha! Thanks..." Atom walked away, slightly annoyed.

He came back not too long after and sat back down on his chair, rubbing Kaitlyn's back again.

He moved Kaitlyn's hair around and giggled.

There was a sound of a ringtone heard for a moment.

"Ooo, that's a catchy ringtone!" Atom said as he danced a little in his seat.

Atom began to have a look of discomfort on his face.

"My stomach hurts..."

He squirmed around in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

Atom sighed.

He sat there for a while and waited for everyone to wake up, and also for the occasional moments Atom would shoo off Astro and kick him out of the room.

Kaitlyn opened one of her eyes. "Dang. Why do I keep waking up? Stupid incandescent lighting." She held a fist up to the ceiling.

Atom quickly got up from his seat and stormed out of the room, making a sprint for the bathroom.

"Atom?" Kaitlyn looked over as he ran past her. She shrugged after he left the room.

He came back a little while later looking like all the food in his stomach escaped and he was left with nothing.

He say back down next to Kaitlyn and sighed.

"You alright?"

"Well if you consider throwing up for like a serious long time alright, then yes, yes i am alright..." Atom replied.

"Oh. What happened? Did you eat something bad?"

"I'm not sure..."

Kaitlyn put her arms around him and gently rocked side to side.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Feeling any better?" She asked after a few minutes.

"A little..."

"Good." She smiled.

Atom smiled back.

"You know, I don't think I'm ready to go home yet... I'm a little scared." Atom turned to Kaitlyn and spoke.

"Scared of what?"

"Well, I already broke Elefun's rule and stayed up past nine, and then I left without asking... And i think I really disappointed him and I don't wanna disappoint him because he might get mad or- i dunno... Something worse?"

"I said I'll talk to him. I won't let anything happen to you."

"R-really?" A few small tears of joy slid down his cheek.

"Yes."

Atom chuckled and put his arms around her.

"This is why we're best friends." He said.

Kaitlyn smiled again.

"So how's it going, if you don't mind me asking, with you and Brandon?"

"Um…. I'm not sure honestly."

"What do you mean? Did something go wrong?"

"Yeah… I guess….. It's neither of our faults… but it made a big impact. And now I'm not sure what to do…."

"Aww, that's sad... Well I'm sure some day you'll both get better..."

"I hope…..."

"Gosh i feel really bad for you, it seems none of your relationships turn out the way you want..."

"Maybe because I sit around and wait for things to fix themselves….. It obviously doesn't work that way."

"Maybe so... Or maybe you just haven't found the one, you need someone that has the guts to compliment you at any moment without thinking twice, and someone that can deal with the bumps in the road and not just like you for being pretty, but for being you, because you are amazing, and you deserve someone that thinks the same way..."

"Thanks Atom…."

"D'aww, no need to thank me, just giving advice..."

"And if Brandon can't handle this bump in the road, then kick him off to the side and find someone that will!"

Kaitlyn sighed.

"I'm going to talk to him first…."

"Yeah, that's a great place to start!"

"Should I do it before I leave?"

"Well it depends on how you feel, if it doesn't turn out well, you don't wanna leave on a sad note, but then again, you shouldn't put it off..."

"And you should be serious and professional about it, if he denies to give you an answer, you keep trying to get it out of him."

"Hmmm. Yeah! If he can't man up, then I'll just head out."

"That's the spirit! Ahhh, they grow up so fast..."

Kaitlyn chuckled and hugged him tightly.

"Should we get this whole Astro thing done and over with?" She looked at Atom.

"Hmmmm, well, has he learned his lesson yet, because i'm not having no ahole buzz kill in here to ruin the mood and be a d-bag to all of us."

"I dunno. The fact that he's still here kinda convinces me that he's learned a little bit."

"No no, he's just here because Brianna wants to stay... Trust me, I'm sure he wants a one way trip from here to North Dakota. Haha, North Dakota, 'cause that's where Stephen- nevermind..."

"Hahaha. Well if you say so."'

"No I don't _say_ so, I _know_ so..."

They chuckled.

"You know, I'm really lucky to have you in my life. You've been there for me all the time and you've done so much for me... I don't think I could ever fully repay you."

"You don't need to repay me."

"Well of course i do, I'd feel bad if i didn't. You definitely deserve it for what you've done."

"Well there's only one thing I ask in return."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Don't change… ever."

Atom nodded.

"I won't, ever."

"Good." Kaitlyn grinned and let go of Atom.

"You know what I don't get?"

"What?"

"Why society makes such a big deal about breast."

"Uh. I dunno?"

"I dunno. I find it stupid if you ask me. They were made for babies not for you to waste your time and judge them."

"True."

"I know right, and then some people treat them like sex objects, and it's like, can you just frickin not?!"

"Yeah."

Atom sighed.

"I feel really bad for you. Must suck being a woman."

"I could be worse." Kaitlyn shrugged.

"True, but I'd just hate to see you be discriminated by society like that..."

Atom shivered.

"Ooo, is it just me or did it just get colder in here?"

"Might be you."

"Uh oh. I might be getting sick! Oh no, oh no, now i'm gonna be sent to the most unfun hospital ever and i'm gonna he hooked up to a thousand and one things! Oh gosh!"

"You're fine, Atom."

"Oh I sure hope so!"

Atom sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"I dunno..." Atom shrugged.

Tenma lifted his head up.

"Ugh. What time is it?" He asked, wiping one side of his face.

"Ummmm... Like uh... Say... Uh... I have no idea, you know what, why don't i just casually walk out and go ask Astro, maybe. Maybe he knows, yeah... Nothing suspicious going on here..."

"No need. It's about 6:45." Cindy sat up and looked at her phone.

"Hmmm, yeah, haha, guess i dont need to go outside, haha, great..."

"Did you _wanna_ go outside?" Kaitlyn looked over at Atom.

"Pffft, no, I'm- g- im good..."

"Whatever you say."

"Haha, yep." Atom nervously laughed.

"Are you sure…. Like 100%? 'Cause you're acting all awkward…."

"Oh it's nothing I've just been thinking about something and..." Atom sighed.

"I just don't know how to approach it properly."

"You need to talk about it?" Kaitlyn whispered into Atom's ear.

"Well uh..." Atom looked at Tenma and Cindy.

"Well?"

"I think it's time I told them..."

"Told them what?... Oh my god. Are you pregnant?! Wait no. That's impossible. And I would know by now. Or would I? I'm going to shut up now."

"Wow, thanks...and no it's not that."

"Just tell 'em then."

"Well I can't 'cause I get really awkward and GAH!" Atom hid his face in between his knees.

"Wait….. Is it?..." Kaitlyn slowly grinned.

She whispered a name to Atom.

Atom nodded.

"Oh. I'll just tell them."

"Really? Oops!" Atom said above whisper level.

Kaitlyn looked up at the others, who were staring at her and Atom as they shared muffled secrets.

"Um…." Atom stuttered.

"Atom has a boyfriend." Kaitlyn blurted out.

"Oh gawd..." He slowly put his head down again.

Cindy and Tenma glanced over at each other for a moment then back at Atom, who peeked up for a second.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Cindy smiled..

"Well... Um... It's kind of a long story and umm, not really something I would just casually talk about..."

"How long have you two been together for?"

"Hmmm..." Atom counted on his hand. "Roughly a year and 6 months..."

"Awww. That's so sweet."

"I know right?!" Kaitlyn nodded to Cindy.

Atom couldn't help but blush.

"Come here." Cindy motioned for Atom to stand next to the bed.

"Haha, alright." He got up from his chair and walked over to Cindy.

She put her arms around him in a hug.

"You're so gosh darn cute!" She ruffled his hair then hugged him even tighter.

Atom chuckled.

"Wow you guys took this better than I expected!"

"Why would we ever take it bad?" Cindy let go of Atom and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I dunno, I guess i'm not used to how the world has changed." Atom shrugged.

"I would introduce him to you guys, but he's a bit of a shy type..."

"AW. That's even cuter!"

Atom chuckled and looked over at Tenma.

Tenma smiled and held his fist out for a fist bump.

Atom reached over with his fist so he could fist bump with Tenma.

"That's really cool, Atom. You should've told us earlier! We could've met him by now."

"Oh i know, it's just... I dunno, i get really awkward okay!"

"That's ok."

Atom sighed.

"Well at least it was now and not like a million years later..."

Astro soon walked into the room.

"Seriously dude, do you have to spoil everything you come in contact with?!" Atom complained.

"No no, Brianna was just getting seriously annoying so i had to knock her out, don't worry, she's okay, just a little stunned." Astro replied.

Brianna walked in.

"TALK ABOUT NASTY, CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT THIS SONOFABITCH DI-"

Astro motioned her to stop.

"Oh, yeah, haha, wonderful!" Brianna smiled.

"I thought you were gonna stay outside..."

"I was, and then i realized that just got tricked into ummmm, something for-"

"Noooooo, you didn't, ack! Oh gawd!" Atom gagged.

"I'll be back..." Atom said as he escorted Brianna and Astro out of the room.

There was a low sound of an argument going on.

Atom walked inside, grabbing hold of Astro's arm.

"He's gonna sit in the corner, shut up and keep his hands to himself."

"Where'd Brianna go?" Emily asked.

"Well let's just say, she's not here, and she learned her lesson…" Atom replied.

"Well then." Kaitlyn blinked.

"I'm sorry, but some people really irritate me, and when they do stupid things like they did, it makes me question the fate of this world and why i'm being flooded with idiots." Atom folded his arms and sat down.

"Still… Dang..."

"See? Even Kaitlyn thinks I have serious anger issues!"

"No. Its not that. Just… I've never seen or heard of anyone get anything through Brianna's thick skull except for him." She pointed at Astro. "And there's only 2 people who can shut Astro up like that. And now it's 3. You've got wisdom or something. There's nothing else that could've done it."

"Haha, well, she doesn't really like me that much, so i'm sure she only left to get away from me, and Astro only shut up because I told him to."

A nurse opened the door and poked her head in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tenma. We'll be bringing the baby back in in a few minutes."

"Oh. Thank you." Tenma nodded.

"Wait? The baby left? No wonder it was so quiet in here…"

"Yes. She was having some breathing complications so they took her out of the room. She's fine now." The nurse said.

"Aw, poor baby."

"I guess that's our cue to go. Come on Emi, Atom." Kaitlyn stood up.

"Oh. You don't have to leave. It's perfectly fine with us if you stay." Cindy looked over at her.

"Well. I have some things to do before I go. And I have to get these two back home."

"Oh. Well I hope you have a safe trip home." Cindy smiled.

"Thank you." Kaitlyn smiled back then walked up to Cindy and gave her a hug.

"And you. Don't break anything while I'm gone." She walked over to Tenma and gave him a hug too as they both laughed.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, won't see you guys for another thousand years…" Atom wiped a small tear from his eye.

"Dude. You can see them whenever you want." Kaitlyn lightly punched Atom on the arm.

"No, no I can't, it just won't be the same…."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when do things like this ever happen, where we're all together like this?"

"Well, when I come back, we can get together again. It's not like I'm leaving forever. It's only three months."

"Yeah, and maybe next time I'll bring Stephen, that is if he stops being so shy…"

"Haha. Yeah. He can come too."

Atom chuckled.

Everyone said their goodbyes then Kaitlyn, Emily, and Atom headed out.

"Well this was fun!" Atom exclaimed.

"Yeah it was."

"It was actually kinda nice being there, but I still kinda feel bad for showing up so suddenly…"

"Atom, you showing up made things 400% better."

"Really?!" Atom eyes and facial expression showed total excitement.

"Yeah really."

Atom with sudden excitement, clapped his hands.

Kaitlyn laughed and gave him a hug.

Atom laughed back.

Soon after Kaitlyn dropped Emily off, she pulled into Elefun's driveway to drop off Atom.

"Uhhhh… I'm scared…." Atom shook with slight fear.

"It's going to be ok. I'll just tell him what happened. Something good in him, deep, deep, deep, deep, deeeeep, deep, down in that lil' ol cold heart of his, might make him happy that Millie was born. That's a definite maybe."

"I sure hope so, do I stay in the car while you talk to him or do you want me to go out with you?"

"Just come with me."

"Okie dokie." Atom unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door.

"Gosh, I think I might need to change my clothes, or maybe even take a shower!"

"You can do that when you get back inside."

"I know." Atom smiled.

Kaitlyn knocked on the front door with Atom standing behind her.

Elefun soon opened the door.

"Good mornin' Kaitlyn and uh…" Elefun looked over Kaitlyn's shoulder.

"Atom?"

"Sup Elefart….. I mean Professor Elefun." Kaitlyn chuckled nervously.

Elefun sighed.

"So….. Here's the thing… You remember hearing Astro here earlier today?"

"Yes yes, I heard his voice once and then it went away, yes."

"Well. That was him saving Atom. _From killing himself. _Like really Elefun? Really? How could you let poor Atom's mental health deteriorate to that point?! What kind of caretaker are you?!" Kaitlyn moved over and pulled Atom in front of her.

Elefun had a confused look on his face.

"Wow. You're really lost?"

"I-I think you have me mistaken, I would never do such a thing to Atom…"

"Then how could you just sit there and let him almost kill himself?"

"I-I… I had no idea Kaitlyn!"

"Well I hope this is a clear warning to you. You need to take better care of Atom. He needs all the love he can get."

"Yeah sure, I think I can handle that."

"You better be able to. If I ever hear that this almost happens again or that you're not loving this little angle enough, I'll… I'll…. well I can't threaten to hurt you… So… I'll stare at you… for a really long time…. And I'll use my crazy eye look too. It's not pretty, trust me."

"Haha, nice try, have a nice day Kaitlyn." Elefun said as he motioned for Atom to go inside.

Kaitlyn held Atom's shoulders to keep him outside the door with her.

"Well, I also thought you'd be happy to know that Cindy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this morning. And Atom was there with me and the others the whole time, so don't worry about him having gotten into any trouble… He was perfectly safe."

"Yeah that's great and all, um.. I have some things I need to get done today, so uh, how long is this gonna go?"

Kaitlyn sighed.

"Be careful." she turned Atom around and gave him another hug.

"I will, and don't forget to talk to Brandon." Atom replied.

"Don't worry. I'll remember." She let Atom go.

Atom smiled and walked inside before Elefun slammed the door.

"Good day, sir!" She yelled out happily as the door closed in her face.

"More like Sir Assbuttington of Dicksville." She scoffed as she walked back to her car.

"All hail the royal majesty jerkiness."

She laughed for a moment.

"Wow. That's good. I need to write that down."

Kaitlyn drove home and packed her boxes into the back of her car.

"You're done early." Her Aunt looked over at her as she closed her trunk.

"Yeah. I gotta go somewhere real quick. I'll meet you guys at a rest stop or something further up the road. I should only be 20 minutes off. Maybe less."

"Ok. See you then. Be safe."

((END OF PART 7!))


	19. The Final Part

"I will. See ya." Kaitlyn got in her car and drove in the opposite direction of her route home.

She pulled into a parking lot marked by a large sign that read "Metrocity Animal Shelter".

She took a deep breath before getting out and walking into the lobby.

"Hello." The receptionist greeted her.

"Hi. Um. Is a Brandon Carter here?"

"Yes. He's in the back cleaning some of the kennels." He pointed to a door behind him. "And um.. may I ask why you're here? We can't just let anyone back there."

"I'm um… _a good friend_ of Brandon's. I need to have a very important talk with him."

"You mean you're his girlfriend?"

"I wouldn't say _girlfriend._ That's a bit of a large term to use and may not exactly fit our relationship."

"Well I'll let you back there. Just don't break anything. Which would be hard since mostly everything holds up to really big dogs, so you'll be fine." He let Kaitlyn into the desk area.

"I'll uh… pretend you didn't almost compare me to a large dog…. and walk back there…." She opened the door and walked through.

Brandon was halfway inside a cage, holding a brush and scrubbing the floor.

He heard the sound of footsteps from the distance over the muffled barks and chirps and slowly turned around.

Kaitlyn smiled nervously and waved.

"Ah, Miss Kaitlyn, what a pleasant surprise!" Brandon greeted.

"Hi." She said in a small almost inaudible tone.

"Sorry I couldn't make it, had some things I needed to get done here…"

"Um. It's ok. I just have some things I need to talk to you about. Some _important_ things."

"Well, um… I'm kinda busy right now, maybe we can discuss it over the phone some time?"

Kaitlyn sighed then took in another deep breath.

"No."

Brandon looked confused.

"Look…. If you really care about us….. about _me_, then you'll take a few minutes out of your time to talk to me. Otherwise I'll just leave."

Brandon sighed.

"I wish I could."

"They won't care if you take a little break. Please... If I mean anything to you, just talk."

Brandon sighed again and put his things down.

Kaitlyn couldn't help but smile a little. The pounding in her ears calmed down a bit, too.

"So what is it that you would like to discuss?" He asked.

"Well... Ah... I feel as if you've been trying to avoid me." Kaitlyn looked up at him.

"Uhhh.. no no, miss, I-I i've just been busy, you know.."

"Yes... But it would be nice if you could put a little more time aside..."

"Yes, I wish I could, but when you live the luxe life most of the time you're always going places, meeting people, especially my parents, and they've been really forcing it on me too."

Kaitlyn looked down for a moment.

"But if you really tried..."

"I know. I know, I've made plenty of mistakes in our relationship, and i'm trying my hardest for it to turn out in favor for us, but…."

"I... I'm not sure if it's just if you're shy... Or if you're really not that into me but... You don't really say much... About... You know what. Screw that. I really _really_ like you, Brandon. I really want this to work out." She tried smiling and holding in her tears at the same time.

"I really wish too, If only I had time."

"We're in this together, right?" Kaitlyn slowly reached out for Brandon's hand.

"I-I assume so…"

"If you truly like me too... Then no matter what this will work. I'm sure of it."

"You see, that's the problem…"

Kaitlyn froze and dropped her hand back down to her side.

"Ummm, I hate to break it to you, but I think my parents have someone else in mind for me…"

Kaitlyn began laughing.

"Really? This is a joke right? You're just messing with me."

"Yes really, we were talking about it last night."

"Oh..." She stopped laughing.

"Do they know... About me?..."

"Well I did mention you…"

"And...?"

"Well, they said they'd rather have me with someone they knew better, her parents must be close with mines…"

Kaitlyn looked around the room.

"Well... Do you like me?... Or no. Please be honest this time."

Brandon thought for a moment.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Kaitlyn looked up at him and smiled.

"If this is ever going to happen... You and me... Then I'm sure we'll work around this. There has _got_ to be a way."

"Yes of course, just have to keep trying."

She nodded.

"Mmmhmm." She wiped a tear off her cheek.

Brandon picked up his things and went back to working.

"Wait... Can you put those back down for a moment?" She walked a little closer to him.

Brandon sighed.

"Miss- Miss… Kaitlyn…"

"Just put it down. It'll only be a second."

"I-I can't don't you see all these other cages I have to do, if I slow down now, i'll never finish…"

"Then just look at me."

"Then how is that fixing the problem?"

"Just turn around and look at me. I have to go, too. You're not the only busy one right now."

Brandon sighed, slightly annoyed, he turned around and faced Kaitlyn.

She quickly put her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"I really like you and I have faith in you. Ok?"

She let go.

Brandon nodded and turned back around.

Kaitlyn waved goodbye as she walked out.

Brandon sighed and returned to work, as if Kaitlyn had never shown up.

"That could have been worse." She said to herself as she got back in her car.

"Could have been a lot better, though." She sighed. "Well there's tons of time to figure all this out... I hope."

She backed up and drove away.

The

End

(AUTHORS NOTE: WE FINALLY FINISHED IT! YAY! I was actually quite happy with the way this ended, and i'm also sorry about the many break ups, we just didn't think having one huge chapter would suit this story, considering each chapter is fairly short compared to chapters for other fan fictions we've written in the past. I'd also like to point out how much fun I had writing this, even though we took many breaks, we always came back with new ideas for you guys to read and enjoy, and i'm also proud to have this be our most popular fan fiction ever! I really hope you enjoyed this as much as we did, and if you'd like to read the next installment in this fanfiction series titled "Vivid Insomnia" Check out my fanfiction "A Walk in the Rain" and also "Friend" which is another collab we're working on set to be posted soon! ^^ ~Emily)

(CO-AUTHORS NOTE: My hangouts app is being stupid and if Brandon doesn't up his game, imma find him and imma kick his ass. If you don't read this fanfiction, imma find _you. _And imma kick _your_ ass. Also, I like pie ouo. Bye. ~Kait)


End file.
